“You Can Tell Me Anything” – The Association between Parent-Child Relationship and Prior Conversations on Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse ; ”Du kan berätta vad som helst för mig” – Sambandet mellan tidigare diskussioner mellan föräldrar och barn samt upplevd förhållande och avslöjanden om sexuella övergrepp mot barn

In cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) the child’s disclosure is essential as other types of evidence if often not available or inconclusive. Many children only disclose to friends or peers which might not be adequate in order for the victim to obtain help or lead to the cessation of abuse. In the present study, we examined whether perceived parent-child relationship, prior conversations regarding sex and sexual development, and the child being physically or emotionally abused by a parental figure would be associated with the likelihood of CSA disclosure to an adult. Disclosure of CSA was studied by examining responses gathered in a sample of 4th and 5th graders and their guardians who participated in the 2019 Finnish School Health Promotion Study. Our results showed that children who perceived their relationship with their parents to be close and caring as well as children whose guardian had discussed with them topics regarding sex were more likely to have disclosed CSA to an adult. Our results did not find a child’s experiences of physical or emotional abuse by a parental figure (as reported by their guardians) to be associated with CSA disclosure likelihood. Our results suggest that talking about topics around sex and CSA with children increases the likelihood that they disclose CSA to an adult. How adults talk to children about sex and CSA as well as how the children perceive these conversations needs to be further examined in future research. ; I utredningar av sexuellt utnyttjande av barn är barnets avslöjande väsentlig eftersom annan bevisning är ofta inte tillgängligt eller tillförlitligt. Många barn berättar om sexuella utnyttjandet för en vän eller andra jämnåriga vilket ofta är otillräckligt eftersom det är osannolikt att det ledet till att utnyttjandet upphör och barnet får den stöd hen behöver. I denna studie undersökte vi om det fanns ett samband mellan barns upplevelse av sitt förhållande till sina föräldrar, tidigare diskussioner mellan föräldrar och barn om sex samt om barnet utsatts för fysiskt ...