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Cognitive-Behavioural Interventions for Children Who Have Been Sexually Abused: A Systematic Review

NCJ Number
306581
Author(s)
Geraldine Macdonald; Julian PT Higgins; Paul Ramchandani; Jeffrey C. Valentine; Latricia P. Bronger; Paul Klein; Roland O'Daniel; Mark Pickering
Date Published
2012
Length
111 pages
Annotation

The authors present a paper that reports on their assessment of the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral approaches in addressing the immediate and longer-term sequelae of sexual abuse on children and young people up to 18 years of age; they discuss their search methods, selection criteria, data collection and analysis, and research results.

Abstract

This systematic review aimed to assess the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in addressing the immediate and longer-term sequelae of sexual abuse on children and young people up to 18 years of age. The authors included 10 trials involving 847 participants, searching the following resources: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (2011 Issue 4); MEDLINE (1950 to November Week 3 2011); EMBASE (1980 to Week 47 2011); CINAHL (1937 to 2 December 2011); PsycINFO (1887 to November Week 5 2011); LILACS (1982 to 2 December 2011) and OpenGrey, previously OpenSIGLE (1980 to 2 December 2011); and for this update, the authors also searched ClinicalTrials.gov and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP). The conclusions of this updated review remain the same as those when it was first published. The review confirms the potential of CBT to address the adverse consequences of child sexual abuse as well as highlighting the limitations of the evidence base and the need for more carefully conducted and better reported trials. Publisher Abstract Provided