Possible paths to increase detection of child sexual abuse in child and adolescent psychiatry: a metasynthesis of survivors’ and health professionals’ experiences of addressing child sexual abuse
Date
2022
Journal Title
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Publisher
International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being
Abstract
Background: Efforts are directed both towards prevention and early detection of Child sexual
abuse (CSA). Yet, only about 50% of CSA survivors disclose before adulthood, and health
professionals rarely are the first disclosure recipients. Increasing the detection rate of CSA
within the context of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) therefore represents a significant
secondary prevention strategy. However, facilitating CSA disclosure when the survivor is
reluctant to tell is a highly complex and emotionally demanding clinical task. We therefore
argue that efforts to increase detection rates of CSA within CAP need to rest on knowledge of
how both survivors and health professionals experience addressing CSA.
Method: Using meta-ethnography as method, we present separate sub-syntheses as well an
overarching joint synthesis of how survivors and health professionals experience addressing CSA.
Results: Results show how both survivors and health professionals facing CSA disclosure feel
deeply isolated, they experience the consequences of addressing CSA as highly unpredictable, and they need support from others to counteract the negative impact of CSA.
Conclusion: The results indicate that adapting the organization of CAP to knowledge of how
the survivors and health professionals experience addressing CSA is critical to facilitate earlier
disclosure of CSA within CAP.
Description
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Keywords
prevention, International Resources, Norway, child sexual abuse, disclosure, survivors, healthcare professionals
Citation
Stige, S. H., Andersen, A. C., Halvorsen, J. E., Halvorsen, M. S., Binder, P. E., Måkestad, E., & Albæk, A. U. (2022). Possible paths to increase detection of child sexual abuse in child and adolescent psychiatry: a meta-synthesis of survivors’ and health professionals’ experiences of addressing child sexual abuse. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 17(1), 2103934.