A normative sample of 880 children was contrasted with a sample of 276 sexually abused children on the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI), a 35-item behavior checklist assessing sexual behavior in children 2-12 years old. The CSBI total score differed significantly between the 2 groups after controlling for age, sex, maternal education, and family income, with sexually abused children showing a greater frequency of sexual behaviors than did the normative sample. Test-retest reliability, interitem correlations, cross-validation, and correlations with abuse characteristics were also reported.
A broad range of sexual behaviors are exhibited by children who there is no reason to believe have been sexually abused. Their relative frequency is similar to two earlier studies, and this reinforces the validity of these results.
A normative sample of 1,114 children was contrasted with a sample of 620 sexually abused children and 577 psychiatric outpatients on the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI), a 38-item behavior checklist assessing sexual behavior in children 2 to 12 years old. The CSBI total score and each individual item differed significantly between the three groups after controlling for age, sex, maternal education, and family income. Sexually abused children exhibited a greater frequency of sexual behaviors than either the normative or psychiatric outpatient samples. Test-retest reliability and interitem correlation were satisfactory. Sexual behavior problems were related to other generic behavior problems. This contributed to the reduced discrimination between psychiatric outpatients and sexually abused children when compared to the normative/sexually abused discrimination.
Expert ratings and confirmatory factor analyses were used to develop an alternative system for scoring the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; T. M. Achenbach, 1991) to measure specific dimensions corresponding to current conceptualizations of child symptomatology. Data were from a nonclinic and 2 independent clinic samples. Subscales measuring Anxiety, Attention Problems/Hyperactivity, Conduct Problems, Depression, Oppositional Defiant, Social Problems/Immaturity, and Somatization were created. Logistic regressions were conducted to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency and discrimination of the new and original approaches to scoring the CBCL. Some of the new subscales demonstrated better sensitivity, positive predictive power, and discriminant validity than the original CBCL subscales; however, subscales from both approaches demonstrated low sensitivity. Results support the use of the new subscales for specific research purposes.
The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) Task Force on Children With Sexual Behavior Problems was formed by the ATSA Board of Directors as part of ATSA's overall mission of promoting effective intervention and management practices for individuals who have engaged in abusive sexual behavior. The task force was charged to produce a report intended to guide professional practices with children, ages 12 and younger. Specifically, the task force was asked to address how assessment should be linked to intervention activities, what intervention models or components are most effective, and the role of family involvement in
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