Studies conducted internationally confirm that child sexual abuse is a much more widespread problem than previously thought, with even the lowest prevalence rates including a large number of victims that need to be taken into account. To carry out a meta-analysis of the prevalence of child sexual abuse in order to establish an overall international figure. Studies were retrieved from various electronic databases. The measure of interest was the prevalence of abuse reported in each article, these values being combined via a random effects model. A detailed analysis was conducted of the effects of various moderator variables. Sixty-five articles covering 22 countries were included. The analysis showed that 7.9% of men (7.4% without outliers) and 19.7% of women (19.2% without outliers) had suffered some form of sexual abuse prior to the age of eighteen. The results of the present meta-analysis indicate that child sexual abuse is a serious problem in the countries analysed.

Background: This meta-analytic review is the first to synthesise findings from prospective research on the long-term course of borderline personality disorder in adult clinical populations.Methods: Systematic searches were conducted in Medline, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, PubMed and Scopus within the period 1990-2017. Inclusion criteria were: (1) adult BPD sample diagnosed by a validated, semi-structured interview; (2) at least two prospective assessments of outcomes; and (3) follow-up period ≥ 5 years. Quality of evidence was rated with the Systematic Assessment of Quality in Observational Research (SAQOR). Four outcomes were meta-analysed using mixed-effect methods: remission from BPD diagnosis, completed suicide, depressive symptoms, and functioning. Potential moderators regarding the natural course and the initial treatment received were studied.Results: Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria, with 837 participants from nine countries being followed. Between 50% and 70% of the BPD patients achieved remission in the long-term. Significant reductions in depression and functional impairment were also found. Mean suicide rate ranged from 2% to 5%. Younger age was associated with higher likelihood for remission. Being female was correlated with lower functional improvement. Despite some positive trends, there were no significant associations between treatment moderators and the long-term outcome.Conclusions: Findings suggest that the course of BPD is characterised by symptomatic amelioration and a slight functional improvement in the long-term. Age and gender modulate the long-term prognosis and should be considered to adapt treatment resources. Further research is required to draw robust conclusions on the long-term effects of psychotherapeutic interventions.

To develop and validate a Spanish version of the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). The AIS is designed to assess sleep difficulty and comprises eight items: the first five refer to the sleep disturbance and the last three to the daytime consequences. Either the full eight-item scale (AIS-8) or the brief form (AIS-5) can be administered. The adaptation used a back-translation design. The validation process was based on a sample of 323 participants (undergraduates, community sample and psychiatric outpatients), which completed the AIS and other questionnaires: anxiety (BAI), depression (BDI) and psychological well-being (GHQ-12) scales. The internal consistency coefficients for both versions were above 0.80. The study of dimensionality revealed a single factor with high loadings and a percentage of explained variance above 50% in both versions. Test–retest reliability was above 0.70 (AIS-5) and over 0.80 (AIS-8) at a one-month interval. The correlation between the AIS and the previously mentioned scales was for both the AIS-5 and the AIS-8 above 0.40 and 0.50, respectively. The psychometric properties of both versions of the Spanish form of the AIS demonstrate that the scale is a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of insomnia in Spanish-speaking populations.