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Dental care - an emotional and physical challenge for the sexually abused

Wolf, Eva ; McCarthy, Erin and Priebe, Gisela LU (2020) In European Journal of Oral Sciences 128(4). p.317-324
Abstract
The aim was to explicate persistent psychological and bodily memories of sexual abuse and how they are expressed during dental appointments. The participants comprised 13 sexually abused individuals (11 women), who recalled and expressed these experiences during a dental appointment. They were encouraged to describe, in detail, aspects of the appointment which triggered memories of the sexual abuse. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using Qualitative Content Analysis. The identified overall theme illustrating the latent content was 'An echo of sexual abuse transformed into (dys) functional reactions'. The first category covering the manifest content was 'The inner invisible struggle', with two subcategories:... (More)
The aim was to explicate persistent psychological and bodily memories of sexual abuse and how they are expressed during dental appointments. The participants comprised 13 sexually abused individuals (11 women), who recalled and expressed these experiences during a dental appointment. They were encouraged to describe, in detail, aspects of the appointment which triggered memories of the sexual abuse. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using Qualitative Content Analysis. The identified overall theme illustrating the latent content was 'An echo of sexual abuse transformed into (dys) functional reactions'. The first category covering the manifest content was 'The inner invisible struggle', with two subcategories: (i) mental inscriptions of the abuse experience and (ii) consequences of the dental encounter. The second category was 'The discoverable manifestations', with two subcategories: (i) enigmatic communication; and (ii) expressions of bodily memories. The dental appointment arouses same similar psychological stressful reactions as the episodes of abuse; both implicit and explicit expressions are recognizable. Dental staff can contribute to disclosure by improved understanding of the strain a dental appointment can cause in patients who have been subjected to sexual abuse, and familiarity with the associated bodily expressions. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
dental fear, dissociation, psychological consequences of abuse, qualitative research, somaticized memory of trauma
in
European Journal of Oral Sciences
volume
128
issue
4
pages
8 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85089436193
  • pmid:33856710
ISSN
0909-8836
DOI
10.1111/eos.12720
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
98c80d9b-e3d4-4ce4-857a-2fbb7ccbb92c
date added to LUP
2020-08-17 10:28:32
date last changed
2022-04-19 00:07:57
@article{98c80d9b-e3d4-4ce4-857a-2fbb7ccbb92c,
  abstract     = {{The aim was to explicate persistent psychological and bodily memories of sexual abuse and how they are expressed during dental appointments. The participants comprised 13 sexually abused individuals (11 women), who recalled and expressed these experiences during a dental appointment. They were encouraged to describe, in detail, aspects of the appointment which triggered memories of the sexual abuse. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using Qualitative Content Analysis. The identified overall theme illustrating the latent content was 'An echo of sexual abuse transformed into (dys) functional reactions'. The first category covering the manifest content was 'The inner invisible struggle', with two subcategories: (i) mental inscriptions of the abuse experience and (ii) consequences of the dental encounter. The second category was 'The discoverable manifestations', with two subcategories: (i) enigmatic communication; and (ii) expressions of bodily memories.  The dental appointment arouses same similar psychological stressful reactions as the episodes of abuse; both implicit and explicit expressions are recognizable. Dental staff can contribute to disclosure by improved understanding of the strain a dental appointment can cause in patients who have been subjected to sexual abuse, and familiarity with the associated bodily expressions.}},
  author       = {{Wolf, Eva and McCarthy, Erin and Priebe, Gisela}},
  issn         = {{0909-8836}},
  keywords     = {{dental fear; dissociation; psychological consequences of abuse; qualitative research; somaticized memory of trauma}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{317--324}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{European Journal of Oral Sciences}},
  title        = {{Dental care - an emotional and physical challenge for the sexually abused}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eos.12720}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/eos.12720}},
  volume       = {{128}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}