A systematic review of reviews

By Roberto Maniglio, University of Salento, Lecce, Italia

Abstract

A large amount of studies and literature reviews on the consequences of child sexual abuse has appeared over the past twenty years. To prevent that the inconsistency in their conclusions along with their methodological differences and limitations may create interpretative dif?culties, mistaken beliefs, or confusion among all professionals who turn to this literature for guidance, this paper addresses the best available scientific evidence on the topic, by providing a systematic review of the several reviews that have investigated the literature on the effects of child sexual abuse.

Seven databases were searched, supplemented with hand-search of reference lists from retrieved papers. The author and a psychiatrist independently evaluated the eligibility of all studies identi?ed, abstracted data, and assessed study quality. Disagreements were resolved by consensus. Fourteen reviews, including more than 270.000 subjects from 587 studies, were analyzed.

There is evidence that survivors of childhood sexual abuse are signi?cantly at risk of a wide range of medical, psychological, behavioral, and sexual disorders. Relationships are small to medium in magnitudes and moderated by sample source and size. Child sexual abuse should be considered
as a general, nonspecific risk factor for psychopathology. The implications for research, treatment, and health policy are discussed.

Article

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