Prevention of child sexual abuse in the USA: a scoping review protocol of US legislative policies

Abstract

IntroductionChild sexual abuse (CSA) poses a significant threat to the health and well-being of children in the USA and globally. Many states have introduced or implemented policies to address and prevent CSA, but little research has linked the effects of this legislation on the reduction of adult-perpetrated CSA. The objective of this scoping review is to identify US policies which aim to prevent CSA, explain the components of these types of legislation, review evidence of effectiveness, describe the populations included in the literature, and identify barriers and facilitators to the implementation of said policies.Methods and analysisThis scoping review will follow Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews and will use the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist. Sources of peer-reviewed evidence from January 2000 to July 2023 will be included. Relevant publications will first be searched in PubMed/MEDLINE database, then 25 other databases. The reference lists of included studies and high-yield journals will be hand searched. Articles which focus on the types of CSA prevention policies and their effects will be included. Studies must clearly demonstrate a connection between policies and CSA outcomes. Title, abstract, full-text screening and extraction will be completed by a team of three researchers. Critical appraisal of the included studies will be performed. Extracted data will be displayed in tabular form and a narrative summary will describe the results of the review.Ethics and disseminationThis scoping review will provide an extensive overview of legislative policies which aim to prevent CSA in the USA. Results of this review will inform future CSA prevention policies in the USA, particularly regarding policy development, evaluation and implementation. Results will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication.