Speakers
Abstract
Introduction: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a phenomenon that occurs worldwide and has significant negative consequences for those who experience it. Various studies have observed that the prevalence of this phenomenon varies considerably depending on the geographical area in which the study was conducted.
Objective: To analyse the mean prevalence for each geographical area and determine whether it affects the estimation of the mean prevalence of CSA.
Method: The search for articles was carried out in the following databases: Web of Science, SCOPUS, ERIC Ebsco, PsycINFO, and Dialnet. The data were analysed separately according to the sex of the participants (both, female, and male). A meta-regression was performed to assess the impact of the geographical area variable on the estimation of the mean prevalence of mixed CSA, and a mean prevalence was estimated for each of the coded areas.
Results: A total of 31 studies published between 2009 and 2023 were included. The mean prevalence values of child sexual abuse range from 0.06-0.09 in Europe, 0.09-0.11 in Asia, 0.11-0.15 in North America, and 0.15-0.18 in South America. Not enough articles were found to analyse prevalence in Africa.
Conclusions: In general, higher mean prevalence values for CSA were found in the American Continent, particularly in South American countries, whereas the lowest mean prevalence values for sexual abuse were found in Europe. Additionally, in all geographical areas, the mean prevalence of CSA in the female sample was higher than in the mixed and male samples.
| Poster | Analysis of the Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse by Geographical Area. |
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| Keywords | ”Child Sexual Abuse” “Prevalence” “Meta-regression” |
