The Change in Child Sexual Abuse Victimization Among Chinese Children and Adolescents (2000–2022): A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis

Limited meta-analytical research has examined the epidemiology of child sexual abuse (CSA) victimization among Chinese children and adolescents over the past two decades. It is crucial to evaluate how the incidence of CSA has changed over time in response to the significant policy and sociocultural changes since 2013. This study employed a cross-temporal meta-analysis to explore the trend of CSA victimization among Chinese children and adolescents from 2000 to 2022. A total of 39 studies (72 independent samples, 83,318 participants, M age = 15.77 years) using three questionnaires for CSA victimization (Chen Jingqi’s scale, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, or Xiang Bing’s scale) were identified through a systematic literature search. A meta-analysis was performed using random-effects models on Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3.0 software. Results indicated that the overall prevalence of CSA victimization from 2000 to 2022 was 16.4%, with distinct differences between genders (15.0% for girls and 18.1% for boys). Moreover, the prevalence for girls decreased significantly after 2013 (12.2%) compared to before 2013 (18.9%), whereas the prevalence for boys remained relatively stable between 2013 and 2022 (19.4%) and 2000 to 2012 (16.2%). After controlling participants’ age, the prevalence of CSA victimization for both girls and boys showed a decreasing trend from 2013 to 2022, while no significant change was observed from 2000 to 2012. These findings underscore the importance of considering gender in CSA research and prevention efforts. They also suggest that increased sociocultural awareness and policy changes post-2013 may have contributed to protecting girls from CSA victimization, though similar benefits were not as evident for boys.