Predisposing Factors and Impact of Child Victimization: A Qualitative Study

Sexual abuse of children is increasing at an alarming rate. This study aims to describe the risk factors and the effects of sexual abuse on children. This unobtrusive qualitative study was conducted on children aged 10 to 18 years old who experienced sexual abuse and followed-up at a psychiatric clinic between the years 2019 and 2021. The information from case records was transcribed. Thematic analysis was performed. Thirty case records were reviewed. The mean age of the victims was 14.6 years; 94% of the victims had experienced vaginal penetration, and 23% of the cases involved incest. The results indicated that socio-psychological predisposing factors involving family structure and dynamic dysfunction, low intrapersonal strength, social influence, and low family socioeconomic status could lead to sexual victimization. This sexual victimization can then lead to emotional turmoil, negative effects on cognitive, academic and social function, negative parental reactions toward the incident, the creation of baby–mother relationships and love–hate relationships, and a lack of goals and hope for the future. Children who experienced sexual abuse may show rape or pregnancy symptoms but may also show entirely non-specific ones. A thorough examination of their history, including biopsychosocial aspects, is necessary to appropriately care for them.

Therapeutic Practices for Sexually Abused Children and Adolescents: Resources for Marriage, Family, and Couples’ Counselors

Marriage, family, and couple counselors should be educated in various treatment options for sexually abused adolescents, due to the frequency, and severity of this form of abuse. The long-term effects of sexual abuse can be devastating for victims. Posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression are potential issues resulting from sexual abuse. The present review analyzes three different therapeutic approaches family counselors may use for working with sexually abused children and adolescents. These approaches include trauma-focused-cognitive behavioral therapy, play therapy and expressive art therapy, eye movement and desensitization, and reprocessing therapy. Implications for family, marriage, and couples’ counselors are provided recommendations as well for future research.

Aspekty opiniowania lekarskiego w przypadku przemocy seksualnej wobec dzieci

The rights of a child stem from the dignity and uniqueness of a child as an individual and are entitled to every young human being. For the first time children's rights were included in the Geneva Declaration in 1924, and their full collection was enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child prepared by the United Nations in 1989. A child has the right to live without violence. In addition to physical trauma, the effects of sexual abuse of a child disrupt normal psychosexual development. Bullying of children is also punished. The law allows gentle discipline only by parents. Mental bullying, so-called systematic harassment of the child, humiliation, ridicule or insult. Sexual violence is a particular issue here. Sexual violence is defined by WHO as an abuse of children for sexual pleasure by adults or elder peers. The article discusses some issues of medical opinion in the case of sexual violence against a child. This is especially difficult for a disabled child. The knowledge of an experienced clinician, yet without the knowledge about rules of jurisprudence and with shortcomings of basic legal knowledge, is not always enough for competent opinion-making.

A Meta-Analysis: The Effects of Child Sexual Abuse Towards Children

Recently, cases of sexual abuse against children became a phenomena and it is a traumatic events that give a deep impact towards the victim. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to conduct a meta- analysis on a published researched about effects of child sexual abuse towards children. There were 20 journal articles collected from Science Direct, SpringerLink, Willey Online Library and Web of Science databases with the keywords ‘child sexual abused’ ‘behavior’, ‘emotional’, ‘social’ and ‘academic’ being used. The year of papers selected were from 2010 until 2017. The researcher differentiated and analyzed the effect of child sexual abuse toward four themes: internalizing and externalizing behavior, emotional regulation, suicidal behavior and academic achievement and performance. The findings from this study shown that child with previous experiences as victims in child abuse display internalizing and externalizing behavior and poor on academic achievement and performance. The findings also shown that the sexually abused children especially girls has low emotional regulation and the victims also had suicidal ideation and suicidal attempt. The implication from this study was to provide the insight for future researchers on the effects of child sexual abuse in behavior, emotional, social and academic aspects. Since this study only focused on the effect of sexual abuse towards children, it was suggested that for future researches, the effects of sexual abuse towards different range of age such as adult with history of sexual abused should be further investigated and more effects apart from behavioral, emotional, social and academic should be considered.

The Entire Mystery: Paratexts and the Ever-Expanding Twin Peaks Universe

This chapter explains how the Twin Peaks universe has expanded beyond the mediums of film and television and into the areas of literature and digital media, which inspired countless works of fan-made artwork and fiction. It reviews a brief survey of some of the key paratexts that interlock with David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, which opens up new facets and insights into the film's narrative. It also mentions The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, which was written by Lynch's daughter Jennifer and published in October 1990 in between airing of the first and second seasons of the Twin Peaks series. The chapter details the The Secret Diary's initial release that reached number four on The New York Times bestseller list during the height of Twin Peaks mania. It explains book stands as a powerful testimony of the harmful and damaging effects of sexual abuse.

Interventions for Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse is a serious social issue with adverse psychosocial consequences in the person who is victimized. High prevalence rate of abuse in both children and adults, no matter female or male, indicate that anyone can be a victim of this hazard. The manifestation of mental-health outcomes is diverse in nature and different across individuals and is determined by complex array of factors. This calls for the application of intervention techniques that are well-established by empirical research to be effective among victims of sexual abuse. This chapter is an attempt to discuss treatment methods established as effective and also other methods that are in use, though with limited research literature on its effectiveness or efficacy, for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other prominent and debilitating psychological and interpersonal effects of sexual abuse. Further, special issues concerning research and practice as well as future directions are outlined.

PTSD Symptoms Mediate the Relationship Between Sexual Abuse and Substance Use Risk in Juvenile Justice–Involved Youth

Juvenile justice–involved youth face disproportionate rates of sexual abuse, which increases the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs), both of which are associated with poor long-term outcomes. The present study tested two mediation and moderation models, controlling for age, race, and history of physical abuse, with gender as a moderator, to determine whether PTSD symptoms serve as a risk factor and/or mechanism in the relationship between sexual abuse and substance use. Data were examined for 197 juvenile justice–involved youth (mean age = 15.45, 68.9% non-White, 78.4% male) that completed court-ordered psychological assessments. Results indicated that PTSD symptoms significantly mediated the relationship between sexual abuse and drug (β = 3.44, confidence interval [CI] [0.26, 7.41]; test for indirect effect z = 2.41, p = .02) and alcohol use (β = 1.42, CI [0.20, 3.46]; test for indirect effect z = 2.23, p = .03). PTSD symptoms and gender were not significant moderators. Overall, PTSD symptoms mediate the relationship between sexual abuse and SUDs in juvenile justice–involved youth, which suggests viability of targeting PTSD symptoms as a modifiable risk factor to reduce the effects of sexual abuse on substance use in this high-risk population.