PSYC 575
JOURNAL ARTICLE SUMMARY ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
For each Journal Article Summary, you will choose an article to review and use the Journal
Article Summary Template to complete the assignment. The article you select must be a peer-
reviewed journal article in cognitive psychology. The article must also be a primary source,
meaning that the authors are discussing their research, not others’ research (e.g., review articles).
Do not use an article that conducted a meta-analysis. It is ideal to select an article you will use in
your paper; however, this is not a requirement. You will not receive credit for this assignment if
you use an article that does not meet these criteria. See the example below for a detailed
explanation of each question's required material. Submit the completed form and a PDF of the
article being reviewed. All material must be in the current APA format.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. APA reference of the article being reviewed
Kaye-Tzadok, & Davidson-Arad, B. (2017). The Contribution of Cognitive Strategies to
the Resilience of Women Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Non-Abused
Women.9Violence Against Women.,923(8), 993–1015.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801216652506
2. What is the research problem that is being investigated? What is the purpose of the
research being conducted?
The study aims to determine if using constructive cognitive processes will lessen the
harmful effects of childhood sexual abuse, such as depression, PTS, suicide, and other
issues. Resilience, an area of study that has received less attention in the context of
survivors of childhood sexual abuse, allows people to cope with trauma and work toward
a positive outcome. People's responses to life's incidents greatly influence how they
perceive them.
3. What is the research question?
This study aims to determine whether self-forgiveness, realistic control, unrealistic
control, and hope are four cognitive coping mechanisms that foster resilience in both
sexual abuse survivors and non-victims of sexual abuse.
4. What are two or more theories discussed in the Introduction? How are they used to
motivate (or set up) the research question? Do the authors agree or disagree with these
theories?
According to the first theory, women who experienced sexual abuse as children will have
more PTS, less resiliency, worse self-esteem, and less self-forgiveness. Due to a paucity
of information, predictions for the variables of realistic and non-realistic controls about
the two groups of women—those who had experienced sexual abuse and those who had
not—were not yielded.
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The second assumption was that both groups, especially those who had experienced
childhood sexual abuse, would exhibit stronger resilience when using the four cognitive
techniques previously outlined.
The last assumption suggested that PTS would mediate the association between CSA and
resilience and mediate the association between PTS and resilience for each cognitive
approach.
The first hypothesis was confirmed that childhood sexual abuse survivors would have
more PTS, less resiliency, worse self-esteem, and less self-forgiveness. For the realistic
and non-realistic control, no difference was found.
The second hypothesis was partially confirmed. The researchers added three background
variables birth order, siblings, and personal finances. From this, the only significant
difference reported was that the better the personal finances, the higher the resilience;
otherwise, birth order and siblings had no significance. In addition, the study found
notable variations in overall resilience between the groups and was seen for almost all the
variables. The difference in resilience between the two groups revealed that women who
had experienced childhood sexual abuse were less resilient than non-sexually abused
women. The survivors of childhood sexual abuse also differed significantly in that they
had lower levels of self-forgiveness and hope. Still, the groups had no difference in
realistic and non-realistic control.
The third hypothesis was partially confirmed. PTS is inversely correlated with CSA, and
CSA, cognitive strategies, and resilience are all mediated by PTS. Lower hope, weaker
self-forgiveness, and a lower sense of control correlate with higher PTS levels. The
findings also demonstrate that resilience and PTS are related through the mediation of
hope. Conversely, this study does not link resilience to self-forgiveness or realistic or
unrealistic control. Because PTS impacts the explained variance in resilience, resilience
declines as PTS levels rise.
5. How is the research question operationalized? First, identify the abstract constructs being
studied. Next, identify the concrete way these are being observed or measured. This
should include your IV and DV.
In both childhood sexually abused and non-sexually abused women, the study measured
variables in cognitive coping such as self-forgiveness, realistic and non-realistic control,
and hope.
6. What is the research design (i.e., between or within subjects, what type of statistical tests
were used, and the levels of each variable)?
The research design included 184 women over 18 chosen from an Israeli mentorship
program for at-risk youth. These women were from a low socioeconomic background,
belonged to a minority ethnic group or was an immigrant, and had received social
assistance for various issues, including eating disorders, drug misuse, and mistreatment.
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A self-questionnaire was administered. The women were separated into two groups: 100
childhood sexual abuse survivors and 84 non-sexually abused women. The areas that
were being measured included socio-demographic data, childhood sexual abuse
screening, resilience (overall psychological health), social functioning, depression,
satisfaction with life, positive affect, self-forgiveness, realistic and unrealistic (sense)
control, hope, and PTS. Each area was measured using a screening tool, scale, or a
subscale (4, 5, 7 Likert-type scale).
Describe the results (but not their broader implications). Were the results significant?
Which ones? Do these support or not support the hypothesis?
Socio-demographic data and childhood sexual abuse used screening tools.
Social Functioning based on the total score from 0-60 on twenty-one items, with a
higher score revealing higher social functioning; the results were .79-.82
Depression used a mean score for all six items. A higher score revealed higher levels of
depression; the results were .88, which was high.
Satisfaction of Life the score was in a possible range of 5-35 on five items; the result
was .88, which showed that the higher the score, the higher the satisfaction with life.
Positive Affect used a mean score for all ten items, with a higher score revealing a more
elevated positive affect; the results were (a =.84).
A single resilience score was used for each woman ranging from r = .44 to r =.56. The
results revealed social functioning, .84, depression, -.80 for the satisfaction of life, .78,
and positive affect, .78, indicating higher scores led to higher resilience.
Self-forgiveness used a mean score for all six items, with higher scores revealing a
higher level of self-forgiveness. The results were (a = .59), indicating low.
Realistic and Unrealistic Control 18 and 15 items were used. Realistic used 18 items,
and unrealistic used 15 items. The higher the score, the higher the level of control. A
mean score was used for both, and the results indicated .80 for realistic control and .70
for unrealistic control.
Hope measured 12 items, with a higher score indicating a higher level of hope. The
results showed a score of .82.
PTS measured 17 items, with a higher score indicating more severe PTS. The results
showed a high score of .93
It was also mentioned that women from low socioeconomic backgrounds have lower
resilience due to higher risk factors and scarce resources. Women from lower
socioeconomic backgrounds appear to be more susceptible to sexual assault as children.
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The findings indicated that the first hypothesis was verified, but the second and third
hypotheses were only partially verified. The study was notable because it revealed the
challenges facing survivors of childhood sexual abuse, including hope, self-forgiveness,
perseverance, and poverty. These results seem to confirm that this dreadful cycle
continues throughout adulthood.
7. What limitations are mentioned? Why are these limitations theoretically interesting?
The report noted several shortcomings. It only used women with similar backgrounds,
just one method of data collecting was employed, additional study on resilience is
needed, the women all had the same financial situation, and lastly, social support was not
assessed.
Due to the paucity of research on adult survivors of childhood sexual assault, these
margins are theoretically intriguing. Consequently, this study adds to the body of
knowledge already in existence.
Note: The Turnitin plagiarism tool will check your assignment for originality.
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