The Barriers and Facilitators to Abuse Disclosure and Psychosocial Support Needs in Children and Adolescents Around the Time of Disclosure

Paths of disclosure – The process of sharing experiences of child sexual abuse

“…Although a minority of abused children come into contact with the police, the results point to the importance of learning from the ones who do so. The analysis presented here support previous research and shows how the process of disclosure was often winding, with gradual disclosures leading to a police report (Augusti & Myhre, 2021; Manay & Collin‐Vezina, 2021). However, the process did not stop at the report to the police; it continued both during the investigation and afterwards .…”

“…The process of disclosure may also include partial disclosures, where the child discloses more information over time (McElvaney, 2015). The pattern of disclosure seems to be gradual: children and young people first make a disclosure to a peer, and then to a parent or trusted adult who helps them report the abuse to authorities (Augusti & Myhre, 2021; Many & Collin‐Vezina, 2021).…”

Silence After Stops? Assessing Youth Disclosure of Police Encounters

“…Youth may feel they cannot trust adults with sensitive information (Boulton, Boulton, Down, Sanders, & Craddock, 2017) and that any perceived benefits of disclosure may be outweighed by stigma, shame, and even unwanted interventions or actions on the part of adults (DeLara, 2012). Additionally, some youth may feel the event was not serious or significant enough, and therefore, may see little reason to disclose (or that the risks of disclosure are too great), reflecting the varied psychosocial support needs depending on the youth characteristics as well as family, community, and event-specific circumstances (Augusti & Myhre, 2021). Despite certain barriers to disclosure, many youth are indeed motivated to disclose distressing experiences not only to seek help, but to seek comfort and advice (Chaparro & Grusec, 2015).…”

“…Despite the prevalence and potential negative sequelae of adolescent police stops, no research to date has examined adolescent engagement in relevant help‐seeking behaviors such as disclosure of police stop experiences (i.e., sharing police stop experiences with others, as well as related feelings, thoughts, and perceptions). This oversight in the literature is somewhat surprising given (1) the significant social and mental health support needs of youth with adverse and/or hostile police exposures (Jackson et al., 2019; Turney, 2020) that might be activated through disclosure, and (2) the robust existing literature on youth disclosure of similarly distressing life events, problems, and/or experiences (Martin, Kim, & Freyd, 2018; Rose et al., 2012), such as community violence exposure (Knight, 2014; Petersson, Swahnberg, Peterson, & Oscarsson, 2021), bullying/peer victimization (Bjereld, 2018; Blomqvist, Saarento‐Zaprudin, & Salmivalli, 2020; DeLara, 2012), and other forms of maltreatment and/or abuse (Alaggia, 2010; Augusti & Myhre, 2021; Bernard‐Bonnin, Hébert, Daignault, & Allard‐Dansereau, 2008; Manay & Collin‐Vézina, 2021; Ungar, Tutty, McConnell, Barter, & Fairholm, 2009). To the extent that youth conceal their direct exposures to aggressive, hostile, and/or violent policing from family, friends, and other sources of social support, they may face added challenges in coping with the adverse psychological sequelae that such encounters produce and may even normalize (or at a minimum fail to recognize) the abusiveness or injustice of a given encounter.…”