Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have
conducted a pioneering study analyzing internet-delivered anonymous cognitive
behavioral therapy (CBT) for people who view images or videos of children
being sexually abused. The participants, who were mainly recruited via forums
on the encrypted part of the internet called Darknet, reported less use of such
material after therapy. The study is published in the journal Internet
Interventions.
The spread of images and videos of children being sexually
abused is a widespread problem. In 2021, almost 85 million files suspected to
contain documented sexual abuse of children, legally referred to as child
pornography, were reported to different tiplines around the world, an increase
of about 30 percent from 2020.
The researchers in the current study wanted to test if it
was possible to overcome these obstacles by offering online-delivered anonymous
cognitive behavioural therapy. For two and a half years, the researchers posted
adverts and links on Darknet chats and discussion threads until a total of 160
participants from around the world had been recruited.
The participants 157 men were randomly assigned to either cognitive
behavioural therapy treatment or a psychological non- cognitive behavioural
therapy placebo group. cognitive behavioural therapy is a form of therapy
whereby patients actively work on changing their behaviour and thought
patterns.
Over the eight weeks of the therapy, the participants were
asked to report how much they viewed child sexual abuse material every week.
The researchers then examined all the data collected during the treatment,
including from individuals who only participated in parts of it, and analysed
how the change in viewing differed between the groups.
The result showed that both groups reduced their viewing
substantially, with a small but statistically significant advantage for the cognitive
behavioural therapy group. Roughly half of the participants in both groups who
submitted data at eight or twelve weeks reported not having viewed child abuse
material at all during the preceding week.
Reference:
Reduced use of child sexual abuse material after
online CBT; Internet Interventions, DOI: 10.1016/j.invent.2022.100590