Children with Problematic Sexual Behavior - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (PSB-CBT)
Problems addressed
Externalizing behaviors/problems
Effectiveness

Effective

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Effective

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Life periods served
Children (4 to 13 years)
Teenagers (14 to 17 years)
Where the program was applied
Ambulatory - Health service centers
Country of application
United States
Description

This is a brief outpatient cognitive behavioral intervention program for children up to 12 years of age with inappropriate sexual behaviors, aimed at reducing and eliminating those behaviors.
The program offers psychotherapeutic, psychoeducational, and counseling services to students and their families to strengthen parenting skills and improve parent-child communication. The intervention consists of weekly therapy and training sessions in specific groups of adults and children. The program has an average duration of four to six months.

Impact evaluations

An impact evaluation showed a significant reduction in the levels of sexual offending (2% vs. 10%). Comparing the cases treated by the program with a clinical sample of children with no history of problematic sexual behavior, no significant difference was observed after the follow-up in the proportion of sexual offense cases (2% vs. 3%) [1].
The study had an experimental design with a 10-year follow-up period. The sample size was 135 children with a history of problematic sexual behavior [1].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Carpentier, M. Y., Silovsky, J. F. & Chaffin, M. (2006). Randomized trial of treatment for children with sexual behavior problems: Ten-year follow-up. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(3), 482–488. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.74.3.482

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