ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Mental Health Needs of Victim-Survivors of Technology-Assisted Child Sexual AbuseView all 6 articles
Support, Snacks, and a Tailored Approach to Empower Recovery: Professionals' Insights on Supporting Children Victimized by Online Child Sexual Abuse
Provisionally accepted
- Marie Cederschiöld University, Stockholm, Sweden
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Introduction: Even though Online Child Sexual Abuse (OCSA) has become a recognized phenomenon, there are still extensive gaps in knowledge and understanding of the implications of OCSA. A considerable number of children and adolescents (CAA) are affected daily by OCSA, and it has emerged as a growing threat to their physiological and psychological development. Method: This study aimed to explore the experiences of the professionals working with OCSA in various agencies and roles, inclusive of their perception of how OCSA and their work impacts: Children and Adolescents, Caregivers, and Interagency Cooperation. Qualitative design with an inductive approach were used interviewing 43 Swedish professionals, including: forensic child interviewers, social workers, therapists within child psychiatry, and medical professionals. All had extensive, experience of working with children and adolescent victims of OCSA. The collected material was analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Results: The analysis of the collected material resulted in three main themes and 12 subthemes related to the research questions. The three main themes are: (1) Victim Impact – Feeling Complicit; (2) Caregiver Impact – Sense of Inadequacy; (3) System Impact – System Error. Those interviewed voiced special circumstances highlighting the need for a tailored approach and organizational policies supporting interagency cooperation. Discussion: Findings bring to light the challenges professionals face managing the lack of policies and national guidelines affecting the support they can provide OSCA victims and caregivers. Participants in the study agree, OCSA victims and their caregivers should be privy to the same protocols applying to children subjected to other forms of crimes. These protocols include incorporating questions addressing potential OCSA, along with routine questions utilized as part of the assessment process in treatment/social service settings.
Keywords: Online child sexual abuse, Digital sexual violence, Technology assisted sexual abuse, Children, adolescents, Professional support, Child Advocacy Center
Received: 22 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Birgersson and Jonsson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Anette Birgersson
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