Age and Social Support as Moderators of Trauma-Focused CBT Effectiveness among Female Adolescent Sexual Abuse Survivors in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) is an established intervention for trauma recovery, yet limited research has examined its moderating factors in low-resource and culturally diverse contexts. This study investigated the moderating effects of age and social support on the effectiveness of TF-CBT among traumatised female adolescent sexual abuse survivors residing in shelters in Lagos State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design with a 3 × 2 × 3 factorial matrix was employed. Fifty participants, aged 10–17 years, were purposively selected and assigned to TF-CBT and control conditions. The Adolescent Trauma Symptom Scale for Survivors of Sexual Abuse (ATSS-SSA; α = .70) and the Social Support Questionnaire–Short Form (SSQ6; α = .90) were used for data collection. Data were analysed using ANCOVA at a 0.05 significance level. Results indicated a significant main effect of treatment, F(2, 46) = 62.48, p < .001, partial η² = .731, demonstrating that TF-CBT substantially reduced trauma symptoms compared to the control group. However, neither age group (10–13 vs. 14–17 years) nor level of social support (low, moderate, high) significantly moderated treatment outcomes (all p > .05). These findings suggest that TF-CBT is broadly effective across adolescent developmental stages and social contexts, underscoring its adaptability and potential scalability within Nigerian shelter settings. The study contributes to the limited African evidence base on trauma interventions, offering practical implications for counsellors, NGOs, and policymakers committed to adolescent trauma recovery.