Efficacy of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy applied in child sexual abuse: a systematic review

Abstract

Sexual abuse committed against boys and girls is one of the many forms of child abuse and violation of human rights. It is mainly carried out by people close to infants such as family members and/or caregivers, a situation that has a devastating impact on minors, which makes it necessary to apply psychological treatment to prevent disorders and improve their well-being. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) has studies of efficacy in different forms of child maltreatment. With this background, this article will carry out a systematic review on the efficacy of said therapy in the psychological treatment of child sexual abuse, published between 2000-2022 in Spanish and English, in the following databases: PubMed, Psycnet from the APA, Scielo and Dialnet. The review of the studies presents consistent evidence that TF-CBT is effective in treating symptoms associated with child sexual abuse. The recurring categories of the efficacy of the mentioned therapy are discussed and from this, it is concluded that the studies provide solid evidence on the efficacy of TF-CBT.