Invading Deeply into Self and Everyday Life: How Oral Health-Related Problems Affect the Lives of Child Sexual Abuse Survivors

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the findings of a study on how oral health-related problems affect the lives of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) survivors seen from the viewpoint of 12 women and 4 men sexually abused as children. Study methods followed the principles of grounded theory approaches. During analysis, the core concept of invading deeply into self and everyday life was constructed on the basis of seven categories: causing serious oral health symptoms, triggering trauma-reactions, increasing emotional distress, shaping the understanding of self, intruding daily life practices, restraining social interactions, and generating financial difficulties. These findings help us to understand how deeply oral health-related problems invade the understanding of self and the everyday lives of CSA survivors, and how these problems interact with their existing considerable problems related to the aftermath of CSA. Attention to these problems may help CSA survivors to understand more about themselves as well as helping professionals, family members and friends to understand the challenges CSA survivors face in everyday life. Increased understanding may also assist professionals to focus on how CSA survivors can be helped in handling challenges associated with dental treatment, daily self-care and other problems related to oral health.

KEYWORDS:

• Daily life practices
• dental treatment
• long-term consequences
• oral self-care
• triggering trauma-reactions
• understanding of self

Acknowledgments

We thank the informants who generously shared their experiences with us, and Anne Birgit Vintermyr and Margrethe Vika for engaging in the development of the study.

Ethical Standards and Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all informants. The Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics, South East Norway, approved the study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Siri Søftestad

Siri Søftestad is a social worker with a PhD from the University of Oslo, Department of Psychology. Her primary research field is child sexual abuse. She has written several books and is working as a lecturer and teacher.

Vibeke Kranstad

Vibeke Kranstad is a dentist, a trained specialist working in a dental clinic offering multiprofessional treatment to children and adults suffering from childhood trauma and dental phobia. Her research interest is traumatized patients in the dental clinic.

Therese Varvin Fredriksen

Therese Varvin Fredriksen is a clinical psychologist and a specialist in child and adolescence psychology. Her research interest is in treatment of traumatized children and adults. She is working in a multiprofessional team offering dental treatment to traumatized patients.

Tiril Willumsen

Tiril Willumsen is a dentist and professor in Behavioral Science at Dental faculty, University of Oslo, Norway. Her primary research field is dental fear and psychologically traumatized patients in the dental clinic.