Abstract

In this article, we describe a qualitative study in which we examined perceived effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on help-seeking individuals who access child sexual abuse material (CSAM, legally referred to as child pornography). The study recruited 18 participants who were part of the internet based Prevent It Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) clinical trial, which aims to reduce CSAM use and child exploitation, and were willing to answer questions during a semi-structured interview about the perceived impact of the pandemic restrictions on their lives, including their sexual thoughts and behaviors. Key themes that were identified from the participants’ answers included changes in day-to-day life, mental health, sexual thoughts, behaviors or urges, responses and coping strategies used to deal with sexual urges, changes on the forums, positive changes, and how they could best be assisted with coping in this situation. Our qualitative analysis also suggested that the pandemic affected urges to use CSAM, therefore potentially increasing the risk of online sexual offending. These results support that there is a need to investigate this potential negative side effect of quarantines or lockdowns before future pandemics.

摘要

在本文中，我们描述了一项定性研究，其中我们检查了 COVID-19 大流行对获取儿童性虐待材料（CSAM，法律上称为儿童色情制品）的寻求帮助的个人的影响。该研究招募了 18 名参与者，他们是基于互联网的 Prevent It 认知行为疗法 (CBT) 临床试验的一部分，该试验旨在减少 CSAM 的使用和儿童剥削，并且愿意在半结构化访谈中回答有关以下行为的感知影响的问题：大流行限制了他们的生活，包括他们的性思想和行为。从参与者的回答中确定的关键主题包括日常生活的变化、心理健康、性思想、行为或冲动、用于处理性冲动的反应和应对策略、论坛的变化、积极的变化，以及如何最好地帮助他们应对这种情况。我们的定性分析还表明，疫情影响了使用 CSAM 的冲动，因此可能增加网络性犯罪的风险。这些结果表明，有必要在未来大流行之前调查隔离或封锁的潜在负面影响。