Child sexual abuse (CSA), the most common type of maltreatment, is any action of a sexual nature by one or more adults towards a minor without the minor’s consent. This abuse represents one of the most damaging forms of trauma, has a severe impact on mental health and psychopathology, and can lead to several disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is characterized as a disorder that encompasses physical symptoms resulting from traumatic experiences that are experienced or witnessed by the victim. This systematic review aims to understand the impact of sexual abuse on post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. Studies focusing on the relationship between these two variables were obtained through multiple databases. Of the 940 documents collected, 24 were retained for further analysis and the objectives, methodologies, results, and main conclusions were registered. One of the main conclusions was that the earlier the abuse starts and the more severe and long-lasting it is, the symptomatology of PTSD will be aggravated and remain in the long term.

Background: Risk assessment is the process of collecting information towards the goal of protecting the physical and psychological integrity of the victim, taking into account factors associated with violence to assess the severity of violence, protect victims, and prevent recidivism. This type of risk assessment is commonly used in situations of domestic violence and needs to be adjusted for the contexts of child and adolescent victimization. Objective: Resources and standardized criteria to guide a child-centered domestic violence victimization risk assessment are lacking. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the instruments, risk factors and outcomes identified in the literature for situations of domestic violence involving children. Methods: Following the PRISMA protocol, 313 articles from the EBSCO, Web of Science and PubMed databases were screened and 13 were identified for analysis. Results: An analysis of the characteristics of some instruments created to assess the impact of domestic violence involving children shows that caregivers’ risk factors are strong predictors of child abuse, highlighting the interrelationship with other factors, as well as warning about the cumulative risk, including child homicide. Conclusions: The literature confirms the importance of family system factors regarding the risk of the mistreatment of children in situations of domestic violence. Risk assessment must cater to the needs and specificities of individual children.