Exploring Potential Factors that Maintain Sibling Sexual Behaviours, a Qualitative Systematic Review

Abstract

Childhood sexual abuse is a prevalent issue that has several negative impacts on the individual’s well-being and quality of life. One type of child sexual abuse is sibling sexual behaviour (SSB), and it is argued to be the most common type of intrafamilial child sexual abuse. Sibling sexual behaviour is under-reported and research on the issue is very limited. Research suggests that SSBs can be recurring with notable psychological impacts. Thus, this qualitative systematic review aims to understand SSBs and what maintains them by answering the following question: what are the potential maintaining factors of SSBs based on the siblings’ personal narratives? The following databases were systematically searched from April 26 to May 3, 2024: APA PsycINFO, Embase, MEDLINE, and ASSIA, by applying 16 relevant search terms. A total of thirteen studies met the eligibility criteria, and risk of bias was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) checklist. The findings of the included studies were then synthesised using the textual narrative synthesis approach. The synthesis concluded that domestic abuse, parental absence, conflicting emotions, the level of sexual awareness, and parental responses to disclosure, can act as barriers to disclosure or to seeking support, which then maintains the continuity of SSB. Since all the studies were qualitative, high subjectivity of findings is expected although data contained rich and significant information. Future studies that focus on the SSB disclosure process and the impact of its responses are crucial and, more research around family systems and SSBs are needed.