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Wellbeing among police personnel investigating online child sexual abuse: a scoping review
Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology. Department of Health, Education, and Technology, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9484-6047
Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Education.ORCID iD: 0009-0005-5067-8252
Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Education.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8517-0313
Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Education.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1440-0470
2025 (English)In: Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, ISSN 1524-8380, E-ISSN 1552-8324Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

Online child sexual abuse (CSA) crimes have increased significantly in recent years, reflecting broader access to the internet and the global proliferation of CSA content. In response, national police forces have established specialized investigative teams. Notably, repeated exposure to CSA material has been identified as a significant stressor for police personnel, potentially increasing the risk of secondary traumatic stress and burnout. Therefore, understanding and addressing the impact of continuous CSA exposure on personnel’s wellbeing is essential within this area of digital policing. This scoping review aims to synthesize and report the existing empirical research on the wellbeing of police personnel involved in online CSA investigations. Following established guidelines, we searched four electronic databases—Scopus, Web of Science (Clarivate), PsycINFO, and SocIndex—for articles published between 2000 and 2024. We also conducted reference mining of the included studies. In total, 33 articles met the inclusion criteria: empirical studies published in English, in peer-reviewed journals, and focused on the wellbeing of personnel investigating online CSA. Findings reveal substantial variation in reported wellbeing. Individual coping strategies, as well as organizational resources and support, play a critical role in how personnel manage the demands of this work. Based on these insights, we recommend that online CSA police units implement clear and proactive strategies to safeguard personnel’s wellbeing.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2025.
Keywords [en]
child sexual abuse, digital policing, secondary trauma, stress, coping
National Category
Applied Psychology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-243432DOI: 10.1177/15248380251358228Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105013882158OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-243432DiVA, id: diva2:1991086
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2023-00085Available from: 2025-08-21 Created: 2025-08-21 Last updated: 2025-09-24

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Lundmark, RobertLindholm, AlvaLindberg, OlaRantatalo, Oscar

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