1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«[T]he focus of the current study is on the developmental covariates of childhood-onset SBP [sexual behavior problems] and its persistence into adolescence.» (p. 540)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«This research deals with children and adolescents referred to the Child Protection Services (CPS) of the Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux (CIUSSS) de la Capitale-Nationale in Quebec, Canada.» (p. 541) «The present study is […] based on a subsample of 340 individuals who showed evidence of SBP prior to turning 18 and had at least one contact with CPS during that time.» (p. 541) Their CPS files were analyzed.

Instruments :
Grille d’analyse

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«[R]esults show that persistent SBP appear to be strongly related to ACE [adverse childhood experiences] that affect the child directly (e.g., neglect in late childhood), rather than to problems that characterize the child’s family environment (parental drug/alcohol abuse during infancy, exposure to intimate partner violence in late childhood) and to which children with persistent SBP tend to have been less exposed. Findings also suggest that children with persistent SBP are more prone to have entered the CPS system at a very early age, so it is possible that this finding is related to the specific forms of intervention (out-of-home placement) or monitoring prescribed by CPS under certain circumstances (e.g., seriousness of the situation; child’s age and personal characteristics); interventions that may lower exposure to difficulties related to the family environment. It is also possible that children in various family situations, such as those captured by the covariates for childhood SBP, may have been removed from home and put into a placement that inadvertently provided a context conducive to the persistence of SBP (e.g., presence of vulnerable children in the new environment). Placement in an alternative living environment, whether as a response to children’s behavior problems or to difficulties in the family environment, thus appears to be both an important component in the developmental context of persistent SBP and a potential associated factor.» (p. 559)