Navarro 1

Sofia Ailyn Navarro

ENGL 1302-215

Ana Mendoza

2 February 2024

Child Abuse and it’s Effects

Mathews, B., & Collin-Vézina, D. (2017). Child sexual abuse: Toward a conceptual model

and definition. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 20(2), 131–148.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838017738726

The author states that child sexual abuse remains an unresolved issue due to different

definitions of what it is. Efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to child sexual abuse are

new and, therefore lack the possibility of being able to. The different concepts used of what

constitutes child sexual abuse, such as “child sexual abuse” itself, “child sexual assault”,

“child sexual victimization”, “child sexual exploitation”, “adverse sexual experiences”, and

“unwanted sexual experiences” are all unclear and diverse. The author explains the

importance of recognizing child sexual abuse by giving examples. “For example, is child

sexual abuse only able to be caused by an adult? Is it only called child sexual abuse if there is

sexual contact? Is it experienced through exposure to pornography and child marriage? Why

or why not?” (p. 132) This article fits into my research because it describes a type of abuse

and how to identify and prevent it.

Freer, B. D., Sprang, G., Katz, D., Belle, C., & Sprang, K. (2016). The impact of child abuse

potential on adaptive functioning: Early identification of risk. Journal of Family Violence,

32(2), 189–196. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-016-9863-6

 Navarro 2

Childhood experiences of maltreatment have been associated with long-term effects, such as

emotional, behavioral, and physical health complications. These children who are abused,

especially in their first three years of life, also have an increased risk for developmental

problems, including changes in adaptive functioning, communication, cognition, and

language. However, the authors state that there is increasing evidence that abuse itself could

possibly cause impaired development through its effect on the child’s developing brain (p. 1).

While child abuse has been proven to impact the development of young children, there is an

increasing need to understand the development of children living with a caregiver or

guardian who has not had a case of abuse but is at risk of maltreatment. A method the authors

use is face-to-face interviews that were completed with 190 consenting caregivers of children

from ages 3-12 in a rural, Appalachian region. This article contributes to my research by

providing proof that abuse may start from a poor parent-child relationship.

Afroz, S., & Tiwari, P. S. N. (2015). Psychological abuse: Impact on children. Indian Journal of

Health and Wellbeing, 6(5), 526–528.

https://doi.org/http://www.iahrw.com/index.php/home/journal_detail/19#list

The authors state that psychological or emotional child abuse is commonly defined as a

pattern of behavior by caregivers that can interfere with a child’s cognitive, emotional,

psychological, or social development (p. 3) Some examples of emotional abuse include

neglecting the child, rejecting their needs, isolating them from others, exploiting/corrupting

them by forcing them to develop illegal or inappropriate behaviors, verbally assaulting them,

and even terrorizing them by bullying. Not all psychological child abuse is afflicted on

purpose. Some parents may emotionally abuse their children because of stress, poor

parenting skills, social isolation, lack of resources, or inappropriate expectations of their

 Navarro 3

children. Some parents may even emotionally abuse their children because they were abused

themselves as children. A method the authors use is collecting data. An example of this

would be how in 83% of the cases they looked at, the parents were the abusers. Strategies

suggested to prevent emotional abuse are acceptance, love, encouragement, discipline,

consistency, stability, and positive attention. This article can contribute to my research by

providing information on what is and how to prevent child emotional abuse.

Harper, K., Stalker, C. A., Palmer, S., & Gadbois, S. (2008). Adults traumatized by child abuse:

What survivors need from community-based mental health professionals. Journal of Mental

Health, 17(4), 361–374. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638230701498366

The authors state that the purpose of their article is to understand from “insider” perspectives

of adults abused as children, the aspects of community mental health interventions that are

seen as helpful and less helpful after discharge from trauma treatment (p. 2). A method they

use is interviewing 30 child abuse survivors 6 months after their discharge from a trauma

treatment program. The participants reported difficulties managing intense, problematic

feelings that resurfaced after their treatment when they couldn’t talk about them with their

community-based therapists. The therapists who were patient, understanding, and respectful

of survivors’ needs for a sense of control were most helpful. Participants expressed the need

for good, accessible trauma-based treatment. Many of these participants stated that it was

their first time in a trauma treatment program. The authors provided a table in which

characteristics of the abuse and psychiatric and substance abuse histories. This article can

contribute to my research by providing proof that good treatment for child abuse survivors is

necessary.
 Navarro 4

Mathews, B., Pacella, R., Dunne, M. P., Simunovic, M., & Marston, C. (2020). Improving

measurement of child abuse and neglect: A systematic review and analysis of National

Prevalence Studies. PLOS ONE, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227884

Child physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic

violence cause health complications, educational and behavioral problems. The authors state

that the generation of reliable data on the prevalence and characteristics of child abuse in

nationwide populations is needed to plan and evaluate public health interventions to reduce

maltreatment. A method used by the authors is using 22 databases to identify nationwide

studies of the prevalence of all 5 or at least 4 forms of child abuse (p. 1). They conducted a

formal quality assessment and critical analysis of the study design. They made tables of

information from the different databases. Their review and analysis indicate many of the

completed studies are generally sound, but some take a more comprehensive and

conceptually robust approach to provide nuanced, useful data for researchers and

policymakers. This article can contribute to my research by making it clear that countries

must invest in national studies of the prevalence of child abuse.

James, F., & Green, J. (2016). Long term effects of child abuse: lessons for Australian paediatric

nurses. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 35(4), 42–49.

https://doi.org/https://www.ajan.com.au/archive/Vol35/Issue4/5James.pdf

The author states that the purpose of the article is to examine current research and evidence

outlining how child abuse affects people over the long term. Physical, verbal, and sexual

abuse are explored throughout the paper and will focus on the evidence surrounding the long-

term effects of childhood abuse on physical and mental well-being, physiological changes
 Navarro 5

from prolonged stress, tendencies towards substance abuse, nursing considerations, and

recommendations for how to reduce the occurrence of a child experiencing violence or abuse.

A method used is gathering information from peer-reviewed, trustworthy sources, such as

these databases: Medline with Full Text, EBSCO, and CINAHL (p. 43). After reviewing the

evidence on child abuse, it was made clear that direct abuse to the child was detrimental, and

indirect forms of abuse through witnessing or hearing about violence towards others affected

children in many ways. This article can contribute to my research by providing proof that

child abuse will often have long-term effects.

TÜRK KURTÇA, T. (2022). Parent Education in Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs.

Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar, 14(2), 247–254. https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.983264

The author states that it is the responsibility of caregivers to protect their children from

sexual abuse, and that is the reason why their awareness of the possibility of CSA is

important. Parents have to get information from trustworthy sources about sexual education

of children and how to protect them from sexual abuse. It is often difficult for caregivers who

have limited knowledge about the subject, feel anxious, or don’t know how to talk about it to

their children. It can also be difficult for children to talk to their caregivers about the subject

because of possible sexual abuse. A method they use is organizing a program for parents to

be more aware of CSA. In the program, caregivers are made more aware of CSA and are

more open to topics like what CSA is, how to approach a child who has gone through it,

making intrafamilial safety plans, and intrafamilial open communication (p. 247). This article

can contribute to my research by providing a good way to prevent and/or talk about CSA.
 Navarro 6

Stige, S. H., Andersen, A. C., Halvorsen, J. E., Halvorsen, M. S., Binder, P.-E., Måkestad, E., &

Albæk, A. U. (2022). Possible paths to increase detection of child sexual abuse in child and

adolescent psychiatry: A meta-synthesis of survivors’ and health professionals’ experiences

of addressing child sexual abuse. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and

Well-Being, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2022.2103934

The author states that efforts to increase detection rates of child sexual abuse within child and

adolescent psychiatry (CAP) need to focus on knowledge of how both survivors and health

professionals experience addressing child sexual abuse. Only about 50% of CSA survivors

disclose their experiences before adulthood, and health professionals rarely are the first

people to know about it. Increasing the detection rate of CSA within the context of CAP

represents a second prevention strategy. Unfortunately, talking about an experience when the

victim is hesitant to say is a difficult and emotionally demanding task. A method the authors

use is meta-ethnography to present separate sub-syntheses and an overarching joint synthesis

of how survivors and health professionals experience addressing CSA (p. 3). The results of

this method show how both survivors and health professionals facing CSA disclosure feel

deeply isolated, they experience the consequences of addressing it as highly unpredictable,

and they need the support of others to cancel out the negative impact (p. 1). This article can

contribute to my research because it talks about how it is difficult for victims to come out

with their experiences of CSA.

 Navarro 7

Salehian, M., Maleki-Saghooni, N., & Karimi, F. Z. (2021). Prevalence of Child Abuse and its

Related Factors in Iran: A Systematic Review. Reviews in Clinical Medicine, 8(2), 69–78.

https://doi.org/http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/3.0

The authors state how action is needed to prevent and stop child abuse from occurring and

offer evidence of high rates of reported child abuse. They conducted a study to estimate the

prevalence of child sexual abuse and its related factors in the country of Iran. The method

they used was finding articles related to the prevalence of child abuse in Iran, using valid

databases such as Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane, SID, Magiran, IranDoc, and Google Scholar

to search using the keywords “child abuse”, “physical abuse”, “emotional abuse”, “neglect”,

“prevalence”, and “Iran.” 22 articles in total were analyzed, and based on that review, about

4.5-58.2% of children reported physical abuse, 7.3-91.6% emotional abuse, and 5.5-85.3%

neglect (p. 70). All the studies showed a significant relationship between abuses with

education, occupation, addiction, and divorce of parents, as well as depression and anxiety of

parents and poor parental relationships. This article can contribute to my research by

providing a valid reason why there should be more steps taken to prevent child abuse,

especially by the government itself.

Bakarman, M. A., & Eljaaly, Z. O. (2017). Preventing Child Sexual Abuse, What Parents

Know?. Annals of King Edward Medical University, 23(3).

https://doi.org/10.21649/akemu.v23i3.2010

The authors state the purpose of the article was to find out parental knowledge and

understanding about how to prevent child sexual abuse in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. They

describe that sexual offense is characterized as “the engagement of a child in sexual action
 Navarro 8

that he or she doesn’t completely assimilate, can’t give informed consent to, or for which the

youngster is not informed, or else that damages the constitution or social anathemas of

society” (p. 284). It is important to evaluate how caregivers perceive and react to the danger

of CSA. A method the authors use is a cross-sectional analytical study done in Primary

Health Care centers of the Ministry of Health in Jeddah City in 2014 that targeted parents to

explore their knowledge about CSA problems. Most of the caregivers who took the survey

have a decent amount of knowledge of CSA. Most of the participants even agreed to protect

their children from sexual abuse, showing their willingness to educate their children in

schools on the topic of CSA prevention. This article contributes to my research because it

will help me prove that CSA needs to be spoken about to parents due to statistical values of

what caregivers think about different areas of CSA.

Navarro 9