Administration of Childhood Physical and Childhood Sexual Abuse Screens in Adolescents and Young Adults: a Literature Review

Abstract

Purpose Childhood physical and sexual abuse can have a negative impact on adolescents and young adults. Although effective interventions that can ameliorate both the short and long-term negative impact are available, many adolescent and young adult victims remain without help: they rarely self-identify as victims and health care providers generally fail to inquire about a history of childhood abuse, especially in the absence of physical signs. The health care field lacks an understanding of effective methods for the identification of childhood abuse. To address this knowledge gap, this paper focuses on a systematic review of the literature for studies comparing modes of administration of measures to identify a history of childhood physical and sexual abuse in adolescents and young adults. Methods A systematic review of the literature published in English in peer reviewed journals between January 1st, 1994 and December 31st, 2014 was conducted to identify studies that compared two or more modes of administration using the same measure to identify a history of childhood physical and sexual abuse in adolescent and young adult populations. Studies that compared two or more different measures for identifying abuse were not included in this review because the focus of the review was to isolate the effects of the mode of administration. Results Only one study that met review criteria was found. It was conducted among female college students in a university setting. No studies were identified that compared modes of administration used to elicit disclosure of a history of childhood abuse among adolescents. Conclusion There remains an urgent need to conduct evaluation of methods to identify childhood physical and sexual abuse including the mode of administration of screens in young people. It is recommended that future studies include diverse populations and randomized and quasi experimental approaches.

Sexual Inviolability of Minors in Central Kazakhstan: A Forensic Medical Analysis

“…In general, in Europe and Asia, 20% of the total child population suffers from sexual violence [19], [20]. Between 150,000 and 200,000 cases of newly identified child sexual abuse occur annually in the United States [21]. The countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States also recorded an increase in the number of sexual offenses against minors [22].…”

“…According to some data, in 75% of cases, rapists are known to children and only 25% of rapists are complete unknown people [13]. According to others, 90% of teenage girls knew the rapist [14], [21]. An analysis of the literature shows that sexual violence against teen boys is most often committed by friends or classmates [20], [21].…”

“…According to others, 90% of teenage girls knew the rapist [14], [21]. An analysis of the literature shows that sexual violence against teen boys is most often committed by friends or classmates [20], [21]. More than half of Kazakhstani schoolchildren (66.2%) experience violence in schools [6].…”

“…It is noted in the literature that the situation of the commission of a sexual crime includes the territorial, climatic, demographic and other specifics of the region in which the crime was committed, as well as the circumstances characterizing the immediate place, time, conditions and other features [1], [21]. Thus, C.Lemaigre et al found that sexual crimes against children more often occur in the afternoon or early evening than at other times, and usually in the place of residence of the child or the perpetrator, if they lived separately [16].…”

A Brief Depression and Anxiety Rating Scale for Sexual Violence Victims

“…Moreover, issues related to copyright infringement and scale reliability are also relevant problems [ 8 , 9 ]. In addition, it is difficult to use these scales in real-life situations, because such patients tend to first seek emergency medical services rather than mental health services [ 10 ]. Further, it is not easy to ask several questions about mental health problems in an emergency medical environment [ 11 ].…”