Systematic Review on Psychological Treatments With Adult Victims of Child Sexual Abuse

The aim of this study is to review the scientific literature about the psychological treatments applied to adults with experience of child sexual abuse. Web Of Science, Scopus and PsycInfo were used. From the 490 studies initially identified, 19 met the inclusion criteria. Among these studies, the praxis of cognitive-behavioral and third generation approaches stand out. Followed by these, eclectic, psychodynamic and systemic guidelines appear, among others, to treat the symptoms in child sexual abuse patients, especially post-traumatic and depressive symptoms. The findings support the existence of effective psychological treatments for adult victims of child sexual abuse, but may not be sufficient to achieve complete remission of symptoms. The analysis suggests that pure cognitive-behavioral therapies show more encouraging results in reducing the symptomatology of these patients; however, other interventions from different therapeutic orientations also reflect their success.