Patterns of Disclosure in Child Sexual Abuse
Abstract
This study examined patterns of disclosure in a sample of 1 737 cases of child sexual abuse (1 614 girls and 123 boys) reported in the North Durban policing area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, during the period January 2001 to December 2003. A content analysis of disclosure patterns identified two broad dimensions of disclosure (Agency: child-initiated disclosure versus detection by a third party, and Temporal duration: an event versus a process); with these disclosure dimensions defining four discrete categories of disclosure: purposeful disclosure (30% of cases), indirect disclosure (9% of cases), eyewitness detection (18% of cases), and accidental detection (43% of cases). A multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that disclosure patterns were independently predicted by the victim's age, the nature of the victim-perpetrator relationship, the offender's age, the frequency of abuse, and reporting latency. The implications of the findings for primary prevention, forensic interviewing practice, and future research are discussed in detail.
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Victims of intrafamilial abuse when the offender is a parent, caregiver, significant family member, or someone in a family-like role are less likely to disclose immediately or at all in childhood/adolescence.
“Victims of intrafamilial abuse when the offender is a parent, caregiver, significant family member, or someone in a family-like role are less likely to disclose immediately or at all in childhood/adolescence because of obvious power differentials and dependency needs (Collings et al., 2005; Dumont et al., 2014; Hershkowitz et al., 2005; Kogan, 2004; Leclerc & Wortley, 2015; Paine & Hansen, 2002;”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings et al., 2005
In Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005), the mean age of purposeful disclosures (10.67) was higher than the mean age of indirect disclosures (5.84).
“Mean age of purposeful disclosures (10.67) was higher than the mean age of indirect disclosures (5.84).”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005).
In Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005), four discrete categories of disclosure were defined: purposeful disclosure (30% of cases), indirect disclosure (9% of cases), eyewitness detection (18% of cases), and accidental detection (43% of cases).
“These disclosure dimensions defined four discrete categories of disclosure: (1) purposeful disclosure (30% of cases), (2) indirect disclosure (9% of cases), (3) eyewitness detection (18% of cases), and (4) accidental detection (43% of cases).”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005).
In Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005), content analysis identified two broad dimensions of disclosure: agency (child-initiated disclosure versus detection by a third party) and temporal duration (an event versus a process).
“Content analysis identified two broad dimensions of disclosure: (1) agency: child-initiated disclosure versus detection by a third party and (2) temporal duration: an event versus a process.”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005).
In Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005), disclosure was independently predicted by victim's age, nature of the victim-perpetrator relationship, offender's age, frequency of abuse, and reporting latency.
“Disclosure independently predicted by victim’s age, nature of the victim–perpetrator relationship, offender’s age, frequency of abuse, and reporting latency.”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005).
In Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005), explicit forms of disclosure were less likely when the offender was a family member.
“Explicit forms of disclosure were less likely when the offender was a family member.”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005).
In Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005), generalizability is limited to child clients receiving a crisis assessment referred through a police report.
“Generalizability of this study is limited to child clients receiving a crisis assessment referred through a police report”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005).
In Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005), two raters coded disclosure categories using the author's disclosure framework, which proved to be both exhaustive and mutually exclusive with the percentage of interrater agreement at 98%.
“Through data analysis two raters coded disclosure categories using author’s disclosure framework, which proved to be both exhaustive and mutually exclusive with the percentage of interrater agreement at 98%.”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005).
In Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005), shorter reporting latency was more likely with repeated abuse.
“Shorter reporting latency was more likely with repeated abuse”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings, Griffiths, and Kumalo (2005).
Categories of indirect behavioral disclosure patterns have been further verified in follow-up research by Hunter (2011) and through an extensive file review using Alaggia's (2004) disclosure framework.
“Categories of indirect behavioral disclosure patterns have been further verified in follow-up research by Hunter (2011), and through an extensive file review that used Alaggia’s (2004) disclosure framework to analyze their data”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings et al., 2005
Rates of disclosure increase with age, especially into adulthood, supported by persistent findings of high rates of delayed disclosure reported later in the life course by adult survivors.
“A second pattern which emerged is that rates of disclosure increase with age, especially into adulthood, which is supported by persistent findings of high rates of delayed disclosure reported later in the life course by adult survivors”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings et al., 2005
In one large-scale study of over 1,737 file reviews, over half of CSA-related cases were identified through accidental and eyewitness detection (61%), while less than one third were purposeful disclosures initiated by the child victim.
“For example, in one large-scale study of over 1,737 file reviews, over half of the CSA-related cases were identified through accidental and eyewitness detection (61%), while less than one third were purposeful disclosures initiated by the child victim”
From Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016) (2019) · cites this paper as Collings et al., 2005
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Bloomfield-Utting, J., & Skinner, T. (2025) · Journal of Gender-Based Violence · doi:10.1332/23986808y2025d000000108 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Responding to children and young people's disclosures of abuse
Hunter, C. (2011) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Understanding the Experiences of British South Asian Male Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse
Begum, H., & Gill, A. K. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-06337-4_3 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
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Anderson, G. D. (2014) · University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy (University of Minnesota) · Cited by 2 · see citing works
van Duin, E. M., Tsang, V. M. W., Verlinden, E., Widdershoven, G. A. M., Brilleslijper‐Kater, S. N., Verhoeff, A. P., & Lindauer, R. (2024) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107072 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Childhood image-based sexual abuse: Recipients of disclosure from a diverse group of young adults
Mitchell, K. J., Colburn, D., Gewirtz‐Meydan, A., David Finkelhor, B., Jones, L. M., Turner, H. A., & O’Brien, J. E. (2026) · Child Protection and Practice · doi:10.1016/j.chipro.2026.100285 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
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Investigating the Dynamics of Bystander Behavior in Child Sexual Abuse Incidents
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Why Cleveland Still Matters: Connections with a New Era
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Disclosure of Child Abuse and Neglect
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- Authors
- Collings, S. J., Griffiths, S., & Kumalo, M.
- Affiliations
- University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Collings, Steven J.
- ORCID
- Collings, Steven J.
- Venue
- South African Journal of Psychology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2005-06
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 270-285
- ISSN
- 0081-2463 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1553795799
- Cited by
- 75
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 1.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- South African Journal of Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- South Africa Netherlands research Programme on Alternatives in Development
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Military, Security, and Education Studies
- Keywords
- child sexual abuse, disclosure patterns, victim-offender relationship, victim age, age of offenders, abuse frequency, forensic interviewing, primary prevention
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