Australian Catholic University, Banyo, QLD, Australia.
Trauma Violence Abuse. 2024 Oct;25(4):2569-2583. doi: 10.1177/15248380231218294. Epub 2023 Dec 28.
There is a growing body of evidence that adolescents, and other children, are responsible for a significant proportion of sexual abuse against children. However, there are substantial differences in how this phenomenon is defined and conceptualized between and within sectors. This scoping review explored the current definitions of harmful sexual behaviors (HSB), and other similar terms, used across a range of stakeholder groups. In all, 141 papers were reviewed from both empirical and gray literature sources, including key policy and practice documents. Included papers needed to list a clear definition for the behavior of interest. There was disagreement and inconsistency across the included papers in their conceptualization of harmful, abusive, or problematic sexual behavior (PSB) in children and adolescents. Although the term HSB has been adopted as an umbrella term or continuum in many policy, practice, and research settings, there is a large variance in behaviors, treatment needs, etiology, and harms present across different types of sexual behavior. Relying solely on one term to describe a wide range of sexual behaviors in children and young people may limit the understanding of this issue and imply similarities between groups that are not present. We suggest that clearly defined subsets of HSB, such as sexual abuse, technology-assisted HSB, and PSB, may give more context to the behavior of concern and may be helpful in informing further research, prevention, and best practice approaches.
越来越多的证据表明，青少年和其他儿童对儿童性虐待负有相当大的责任。然而，在不同部门和部门之间，对这一现象的定义和概念化存在很大差异。本范围审查探讨了当前在一系列利益相关者群体中使用的有害性行为（HSB）和其他类似术语的定义。总共从实证和灰色文献来源审查了 141 篇论文，包括关键政策和实践文件。列入的论文需要列出感兴趣行为的明确定义。在所纳入的论文中，对儿童和青少年的有害、虐待或有问题的性行为（PSB）的概念化存在分歧和不一致。尽管 HSB 一词已在许多政策、实践和研究环境中被采用为一个总称或连续体，但不同类型的性行为在行为、治疗需求、病因和危害方面存在很大差异。仅仅依靠一个术语来描述儿童和年轻人的广泛性行为可能会限制对这个问题的理解，并暗示不同群体之间存在相似之处，而实际上并不存在。我们建议，HSB 的明确定义子集，如性虐待、技术辅助 HSB 和 PSB，可能会为所关注的行为提供更多背景信息，并有助于为进一步的研究、预防和最佳实践方法提供信息。
