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Cognitions and emotions about child sexual abuse (CECSA): development of a self-report measure to predict bias in child sexual abuse investigations.

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Title: Cognitions and emotions about child sexual abuse (CECSA): development of a self-report measure to predict bias in child sexual abuse investigations.
Authors: Gewehr, Elsa (AUTHOR), Volbert, Renate (AUTHOR), Merschhemke, Marie (AUTHOR), Santtila, Pekka (AUTHOR), Pülschen, Simone (AUTHOR)
Source: Psychology, Crime & Law. Jul2026, Vol. 32 Issue 6, p923-943. 21p.
Subjects: Child sexual abuse, Cognition, Questionnaires, Emotions, Hypothesis, Statistical bias, Criminal investigation
Abstract: A biased mindset can foster confirmatory reasoning and suggestive questioning when adults talk to children about abuse suspicions in child-protection, healthcare, educational or investigative settings. We developed a self-report instrument on Cognitions and Emotions about Child Sexual Abuse (CECSA) that may predict individual propensity for a bias toward the abuse hypothesis. Three subscales, 23 items in total, were created in a sample of 801 students of human sciences via exploratory factor analysis and Ant Colony Optimization. The 'Naive Confidence' subscale reflects overestimating one's ability to recognize abused children and overestimating the accuracy of children's abuse reports, the 'Emotional Reactivity' subscale measures the intensity of one's emotional reactions towards the topic of child sexual abuse (CSA), and the 'Justice System Distrust' subscale covers distrusting the justice system's ability to prosecute CSA. The CECSA showed adequate model fit and good internal consistencies. Correlations with other self-report measures demonstrated convergent validity. All subscales predicted biased evaluations towards the abuse hypothesis in scenarios of children displaying unspecific behavioral problems. Given context-specific validations, the CECSA may be used to evaluate training programs or to assess training needs of professionals who talk to children about CSA suspicions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Psychology, Crime & Law is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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Header DbId: pbh
DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
An: 195033918
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PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
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Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Cognitions and emotions about child sexual abuse (CECSA): development of a self-report measure to predict bias in child sexual abuse investigations.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gewehr%2C+Elsa%22">Gewehr, Elsa</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Volbert%2C+Renate%22">Volbert, Renate</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Merschhemke%2C+Marie%22">Merschhemke, Marie</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Santtila%2C+Pekka%22">Santtila, Pekka</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Pülschen%2C+Simone%22">Pülschen, Simone</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Psychology%2C+Crime+%26+Law%22">Psychology, Crime & Law</searchLink>. Jul2026, Vol. 32 Issue 6, p923-943. 21p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Child+sexual+abuse%22">Child sexual abuse</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognition%22">Cognition</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Questionnaires%22">Questionnaires</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Emotions%22">Emotions</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hypothesis%22">Hypothesis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Statistical+bias%22">Statistical bias</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Criminal+investigation%22">Criminal investigation</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: A biased mindset can foster confirmatory reasoning and suggestive questioning when adults talk to children about abuse suspicions in child-protection, healthcare, educational or investigative settings. We developed a self-report instrument on Cognitions and Emotions about Child Sexual Abuse (CECSA) that may predict individual propensity for a bias toward the abuse hypothesis. Three subscales, 23 items in total, were created in a sample of 801 students of human sciences via exploratory factor analysis and Ant Colony Optimization. The 'Naive Confidence' subscale reflects overestimating one's ability to recognize abused children and overestimating the accuracy of children's abuse reports, the 'Emotional Reactivity' subscale measures the intensity of one's emotional reactions towards the topic of child sexual abuse (CSA), and the 'Justice System Distrust' subscale covers distrusting the justice system's ability to prosecute CSA. The CECSA showed adequate model fit and good internal consistencies. Correlations with other self-report measures demonstrated convergent validity. All subscales predicted biased evaluations towards the abuse hypothesis in scenarios of children displaying unspecific behavioral problems. Given context-specific validations, the CECSA may be used to evaluate training programs or to assess training needs of professionals who talk to children about CSA suspicions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Psychology, Crime & Law is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=195033918
RecordInfo BibRecord:
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/1068316X.2024.2443448
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 21
        StartPage: 923
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Child sexual abuse
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Cognition
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Questionnaires
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Emotions
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      – SubjectFull: Hypothesis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Statistical bias
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      – SubjectFull: Criminal investigation
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Cognitions and emotions about child sexual abuse (CECSA): development of a self-report measure to predict bias in child sexual abuse investigations.
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            NameFull: Gewehr, Elsa
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            NameFull: Volbert, Renate
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            NameFull: Santtila, Pekka
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              M: 07
              Text: Jul2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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