Epidemiology of Child Sexual Abuse

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Feldman, W. Feldman, E. Goodman, McGrath, Pless, Corsini and Bennett (1991) raised a dispute about child sexual abuse whether the increased rates of reported cases reflects a true increase in prevalence. In this report, data collected in the 70's and 80 with respect to the years 40. The authors were compared, using defaults for information quality criteria, the most common definitions of child sexual abuse and research design, examined the Kinsey report published in 1953 and 19 prevalence studies reported during the last 10 years. Variability between raters was 97 for each job. Despite differences in study designs and populations surveyed, where the definitions of child sexual abuse were similar, recent studies with the most convincing methodology reported figures similar prevalence to Kinsey in the 40s, for example from 10% to 12% of girls under 14 years. Thus, according to the authors, it seemed that the increase in reporting abuse is more due to the changes that occurred in legislation and social climate than a true increase in prevalence.

Cappelleri, Eckenrode and Powers (1993) investigated the epidemiology of child abuse with data taken from the Second National Incidence and Prevalence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect. A statistical comparison of rates incidence indicated that age, household income and ethnicity constitute risk factors for both sexual abuse to physical abuse, but the geographical situation was not. Sex was a risk factor for sexual abuse but not physical abuse. A logistic regression analysis showed that ethnicity, geographical location and the relationship between the level of income-sex made the difference between sexual abuse and physical abuse.

Barbaree, Hudson and Seto (1993) exposed that sexual assault was recognized in modern Western society as one of the most serious problems, equaling the total of the problems of non-sexual crime, poverty, environmental damage and substance abuse . Upon recognition of the problem, it has been important the number of health centers created, implementation of prevention programs, and dissemination of knowledge on the subject. The severity of the problem of sexual assault is related to the significant number of casualties that occur, and severe damage to them. In a national survey conducted in USA, of 6,159 people who were between 18 and 20 years, half of the women reported having experienced some form of sexual victimization since the age of fourteen. In the same study, a quarter of men admitted to having been involved in some form of sexual assault.

Glasgow, Horne, Calam, and Cox (1994) described a study of all children who were allegedly sexually abused by children in the city of Liverpool for a period of 12 months. They studied the nature of the allegations and evidence are designated as "m {s strong" or "m {s weak." The annual incidence figures of children investigated as possible or probable other child molesters calculated on this basis: the systematic grouping children ages perpetrators extends to a similar grouping of the alleged perpetrators adult age. A teenager is more than twice as likely suspected of having committed a child sexual abuse and have been a victim while any other comparable age group. This emphasized the seriousness of a development perspective in sexual assault throughout life.

In Spain Arruabarrena and Paul (1999) they highlighted the lack of longitudinal studies and most of the research on risk factors used samples from subjects previously identified as perpetrators or as victims, subjects who reported often in retrospect, episodes of abuse or personal or contextual circumstances and methodological difficulties are in part

López, Carpenter, Hernandez, Martin and Strong (1995) compiled a review of international literature on sexual abuse and research by the same authors in Spain. In this research interviewed 2,000 adults Spaniards, a representative sample structured by regions, age and sex to which retrospective information requested. All investigations showed that the aggressors are men, a high prevalence of sexual abuse, both girls (between 20% and 25%) and boys (between 10% and 15%) and they are repeated in almost half of cases and have important short-term effects (in approximately 70% of cases) and long term (in approximately 30% of cases). So they raised the necessary and urgent prevention, carrying out programs with parents, professionals and children. While the authors were concerned because they argued that many of the cases go unreported.

Pilkington and Kremer (1995) conducted two consecutive reviews of the main empirical studies that have been carried out in order to estimate the prevalence of child sexual abuse in women. The research was divided into three samples found by categories: general public sample with probability and non-probability sample of university students and sample inpatient and outpatient. They conducted studies on the first two samples and highlighted are a number of methodological issues unresolved can contribute to the variance in reported prevalence rates. These included a large number of definitions of child sexual abuse and different methods of elicitation for information on possible histories of abuse. Despite these problems, as a whole, prevalence studies indicate the significant number of people who have suffered abuse and who are willing to reveal aspects of these abusive experiences to prevent this from happening follow.

In 1996 the Council of Child Abuse and Neglect USA denounced the phenomenon of child sexual abuse as a national emergency, and in subsequent reports recommended that each community and each level of government to discuss and draw protection policies. Between 1986 and 1993, the number of children seriously abused doubled, from 1.4 to 2.8 million, according to the Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (Krugman, 1996, Sedlak and Broadhurst, nineteen ninety six).

Roosa, Reyes, Reinholtz and Angelini (1998) exposed the difficulty of interpreting and comparing studies on child sexual abuse in women given the wide variation in the definitions of this phenomenon represented by the measures used. They took data from a sample of 2003 women to demonstrate the implications of using different measures of child sexual abuse reports based on incidence rates and the relationship between this type of abuse and depression. They used dichotomous measures, measures that take into account the seriousness of the experience of sexual abuse, and measures that include or exclude pairs of similar age as potential perpetrators of abuse. As a result, the choice of measuring child sexual abuse had a difference of 300% in incidence rates within this sample. Similarly, measures differed in the strength of its relationships with depression.

Holmes