Emotional configurations and repair energy after child sexual abuse assessed using mixed methodology - 19/04/26
, Alejandro Iborra Cuéllar Cet article a été publié dans un numéro de la revue, cliquez ici pour y accéder
Key Practice Points |
• | From isolated states to functional configurations: Intervention should not focus solely on reducing isolated symptoms or emotions (such as fear or guilt), but rather on mapping how these are organized into survival systems; for example, the “danger-control” axis acts as an organizing core that maintains hypervigilance and restricts the survivor's life map. |
• | Functional anger as a driver of repair: It is essential for the clinician to distinguish between “maintenance cycles” (fear-avoidance-guilt) and “opening levers”; the study shows that transforming emotional activation into “boundary energy” (functional anger) is a key mechanism for reattributing responsibility to the aggressor and restoring personal agency. |
• | Addressing bodily integrity and disgust: Since disgust operates as a vector that redefines physical boundaries and intimacy independently of explicit fear, therapies should integrate sensory and bodily components that reduce cleaning rituals and gradually expand the capacity for choice in physical contact. |
Abstract |
Evidence on child sexual abuse (CSA) suggests that emotional responses are organised into functional systems rather than isolated states; this study examines how they are configured, coexist and what practical meaning they acquire in everyday life. A mixed methodology with a convergent design was used: quantitatively, prevalences and emotional co-occurrences were analysed to identify bridges between axes; qualitatively, thematic analysis of in-depth interviews was carried out; both components were integrated by triangulation. A total of 194 adults with a history of CSA (quantitative) and 9 in-depth interviews (qualitative) participated. The results place danger–control as the organising core associated with vigilance and avoidance; they show that self-assessment (guilt/shame) acts as a hinge and, after reattribution, activation is transformed into boundary energy (anger/rage) that makes it possible to say ‘no’ and restore agency; results also indicate that the bodily integrity axis (disgust) reorders the relationship with the body and intimacy; and they describe a temporal rhythm in waves (control–emotional breakdown–reactivation). The discussion proposes distinguishing between maintenance cycles and levers of openness, with applied implications for a protect–repair–restore itinerary, interventions sensitive to the moment, and the inclusion of bodily components to reduce rituals and expand choice.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : child sexual abuse, emotions, mixed methodology, shame, reparation
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