Treatment of Childhood Sexual Abuse: An Updated Review

• NCJ Number: 240718
• Journal: Current Psychiatry Reports Volume: 14 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2012 Pages: 599-607
• Author(s): Marissa Cummings; Steven J. Berkowitz; Philip V. Scribano
• Date Published: December 2012
• Length: 9 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Yale University Press; National Institute of Mental Health; Hearst Foundation; First Hospital Foundation
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article reviews current literature on the treatment of childhoold sexual abuse (CSA), including psychosocial interventions, pharmacotherapy, and early preventative interventions.

Abstract

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) involves multiple complex factors that make the evaluation of therapeutic interventions especially complicated. PTSD prevalence rates of CSA are approximately 37 percent -53 percent. Several other psychiatric sequelae of CSA exist. CSA appears to disrupt brain and body physiology. One co-located service delivery model reported a 52 percent linkage rate of CSA survivors with mental health treatment. This article reviews current literature on the treatment of CSA, including psychosocial interventions, pharmacotherapy, and early preventative interventions. It also provides an update on the short- and long-term sequelae of CSA and implications for future research directions. A literature search of papers published in the last 3 years was conducted using the keywords treatment, sexual abuse, childhood, epigenetics, resilience and review, and searching the following databases: PsycInfo, PubMed, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and Centers for Disease Control. Abstract published by arrangement with Springer.