Citation

Pereda N, Guilera G, Forns M, Gómez-Benito J. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 2009; 29(4): 328-338.

Affiliation

Departament de Personalitat, Avaluació i Tractament Psicològics, Facultat de Psicologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Passeig Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035, Barcelona, Spain.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.cpr.2009.02.007

PMID

19371992

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Studies conducted internationally confirm that child sexual abuse is a much more widespread problem than previously thought, with even the lowest prevalence rates including a large number of victims that need to be taken into account. OBJECTIVE: To carry out a meta-analysis of the prevalence of child sexual abuse in order to establish an overall international figure. METHODS: Studies were retrieved from various electronic databases. The measure of interest was the prevalence of abuse reported in each article, these values being combined via a random effects model. A detailed analysis was conducted of the effects of various moderator variables. RESULTS: Sixty-five articles covering 22 countries were included. The analysis showed that 7.9% of men (7.4% without outliers) and 19.7% of women (19.2% without outliers) had suffered some form of sexual abuse prior to the age of eighteen. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present meta-analysis indicate that child sexual abuse is a serious problem in the countries analysed.

Language: en