{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:36:01Z","timestamp":1787027761036,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,28]],"date-time":"2025-01-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1738022400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)","award":["01SR2001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["01SR2001"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Research is needed on the myths regarding child sexual abuse in order to address commonly held misconceptions in persons training for professional careers in relevant fields for child protection. We present our translated, validated, and expanded Child Sexual Abuse Myth Scale (CSAMS-G). It was tested on a sample of 569 students studying either education, social work, law, or policing. Results of confirmatory factor analysis revealed a good model fit for our assumed factorial structure. Acceptable results on internal consistency were confirmed with McDonald\u2019s \u03c9. We also present the first results on the acceptance of child sexual abuse myths in our sample. Overall, myth acceptance was low, but a few exceptions were found, especially for the newly added items. We found group differences in factor scores for gender as well as between survivors and non-survivors of child sexual abuse.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs15020143","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,28]],"date-time":"2025-01-28T06:47:29Z","timestamp":1738046849000},"page":"143","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["German Version of the Child Sexual Abuse Myth Scale (CSAMS-G): Translation, Expansion, and Construct Validation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3697-2325","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lennart","family":"Bayer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Interdisciplinary Collaboration in the Context of Sexual Violence, Europa-Universit\u00e4t Flensburg, Auf dem Campus 1, 24943 Flensburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6949-5211","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maike","family":"Cigelski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Interdisciplinary Collaboration in the Context of Sexual Violence, Europa-Universit\u00e4t Flensburg, Auf dem Campus 1, 24943 Flensburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5463-8347","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Justine","family":"Eilfgang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Interdisciplinary Collaboration in the Context of Sexual Violence, Europa-Universit\u00e4t Flensburg, Auf dem Campus 1, 24943 Flensburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8007-0321","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elisabeth Barbara","family":"Kraus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Akademiestr. 7, 80799 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-4197-8947","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Frieda","family":"Mensing","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Interdisciplinary Collaboration in the Context of Sexual Violence, Europa-Universit\u00e4t Flensburg, Auf dem Campus 1, 24943 Flensburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9439-9240","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simone","family":"P\u00fclschen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Interdisciplinary Collaboration in the Context of Sexual Violence, Europa-Universit\u00e4t Flensburg, Auf dem Campus 1, 24943 Flensburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Robust chi square difference testing with mean and variance adjusted test statistics","volume":"1","author":"Asparouhov","year":"2006","journal-title":"Matrix"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3186","DOI":"10.1097\/00007632-200012150-00014","article-title":"Guidelines for the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures","volume":"25","author":"Beaton","year":"2000","journal-title":"Spine"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1207\/s15328007sem1201_3","article-title":"Simulation study on fit indexes in CFA based on data with slightly distorted simple structure","volume":"12","author":"Beauducel","year":"2005","journal-title":"Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wazlawik, M., Henningsen, A., Dekker, A., Vo\u00df, H.-J., and Retkowski, A. (2019). Pr\u00e4vetion sexuellen Missbrauchs an Kindern und Jugendlichen mit Behinderung. Eine Fortbildung f\u00fcr F\u00f6rderschulleher_innen. Springer eBook collection: Band 3. Sexuelle gewalt in p\u00e4dagogischen Kontexten: Aktuelle Forschungen und Reflexionen, Springer VS.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-658-18001-0"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113","DOI":"10.1002\/car.671","article-title":"The child abuse and divorce myth","volume":"10","author":"Brown","year":"2001","journal-title":"Child Abuse Review"},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"B\u00fchner, M. (2021). Einf\u00fchrung in die Test- und Fragebogenkonstruktion (4., korrigierte und erweiterte Auflage). Pearson studium psychologie, Pearson. Available online: https:\/\/ebookcentral.proquest.com\/lib\/kxp\/detail.action?docID=6741201."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"424","DOI":"10.1177\/088626001016005003","article-title":"Rape myth acceptance among college women","volume":"16","author":"Carmody","year":"2001","journal-title":"Journal of Interpersonal Violence"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"802","DOI":"10.1080\/10538712.2020.1801934","article-title":"Child sexual abuse myth scale: Validity and reliability evidence in the Portuguese context","volume":"29","author":"Chim","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Child Sexual Abuse"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.4103\/ijstd.IJSTD_110_15","article-title":"Childhood sexual abuse perceptions and experience among college students of Panchkula","volume":"41","author":"Chopra","year":"2020","journal-title":"Indian Journal of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"665","DOI":"10.1177\/088626097012005004","article-title":"Development, reliability, and validity of the child sexual abuse myth scale","volume":"12","author":"Collings","year":"1997","journal-title":"Journal of Interpersonal Violence"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1080\/14330237.2009.10820253","article-title":"The cross-cultural validity of the child sexual abuse myth scale: A preliminary investigation","volume":"19","author":"Collings","year":"2009","journal-title":"Journal of Psychology in Africa"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1471-6402.2007.00327.x","article-title":"What influences believing child sexual abuse disclosures? The roles of depicted memory persistence, participant gender, trauma history, and sexism","volume":"31","author":"Cromer","year":"2007","journal-title":"Psychology of Women Quarterly"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"618","DOI":"10.1080\/10538712.2010.522493","article-title":"Child sexual abuse myths: Attitudes, beliefs, and individual differences","volume":"19","author":"Cromer","year":"2010","journal-title":"Journal of Child Sexual Abuse"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"895","DOI":"10.1177\/0093854813475348","article-title":"Improving police officers\u2019 perceptions of sexual offending through intensive training","volume":"40","author":"Darwinkel","year":"2013","journal-title":"Criminal Justice and Behavior"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Denne, E., George, S. S., and Stolzenberg, S. N. (2023). Developmental considerations in how defense attorneys employ child sexual abuse and rape myths when questioning alleged victims of child sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 8862605231189512.","DOI":"10.1177\/08862605231189512"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"36","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijlcj.2014.07.001","article-title":"A systematic review of juries\u2019 assessment of rape victims: Do rape myths impact on juror decision-making?","volume":"43","author":"Dinos","year":"2015","journal-title":"International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"399","DOI":"10.1111\/bjop.12046","article-title":"From alpha to omega: A practical solution to the pervasive problem of internal consistency estimation","volume":"105","author":"Dunn","year":"2014","journal-title":"British Journal of Psychology (London, England: 1953)"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"345","DOI":"10.1080\/13218719.2011.585128","article-title":"Rape victims\u2019 attitudes to rape myth acceptance","volume":"19","author":"Egan","year":"2012","journal-title":"Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"NP757","DOI":"10.1177\/0886260520918579","article-title":"What do we know about child sexual abuse? myths and truths in Spain","volume":"37","author":"Ferragut","year":"2022","journal-title":"Journal of Interpersonal Violence"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"NP16623","DOI":"10.1177\/08862605211023485","article-title":"Blaming children: How rape myths manifest in defense attorneys\u2019 questions to children testifying about child sexual abuse","volume":"37","author":"George","year":"2022","journal-title":"Journal of Interpersonal Violence"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wazlawik, M., Vo\u00df, H.-J., Retkowski, A., Henningsen, A., and Dekker, A. (2019). Sexuelle Gewalt und Schule. Sexuelle gewalt und P\u00e4dagogik. Sexuelle gewalt in p\u00e4dagogischen kontexten, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-658-18001-0"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/10705519909540118","article-title":"Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives","volume":"6","author":"Hu","year":"1999","journal-title":"Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal"},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Jorgensen, T. D., Pornprasertmanit, S., Schoemann, A. M., and Rosseel, Y. (2025, January 20). CRAN: Contributed packages, Available online: https:\/\/cran.r-project.org\/web\/packages\/semTools\/index.html."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100705","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijlcj.2024.100705","article-title":"Introduction and validation of the modern adolescent dating violence attitude (MADVA) scale: A contemporary tool for assessing adolescent attitudes towards dating violence in offline and online environments","volume":"80","author":"Kirkman","year":"2025","journal-title":"International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice"},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Korkmaz, S., Goksuluk, D., and Zararsiz, G. (2025, January 20). CRAN: Contributed packages, Available online: https:\/\/cran.r-project.org\/web\/packages\/MVN\/index.html."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Lenzner, T., Neuert, C., and Otto, W. (2025, January 20). Kognitives pretesting, Available online: https:\/\/www.gesis.org\/fileadmin\/admin\/Dateikatalog\/pdf\/guidelines\/kognitives_pretesting_lenzner_neuert_otto_2015.pdf."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lilley, C., Willmott, D., and Mojtahedi, D. (2022). Juror characteristics on trial: Investigating how psychopathic traits, rape attitudes, victimization experiences, and juror demographics influence decision-making in an intimate partner rape trial. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2022.1086026"},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"L\u00fcdecke, D., Makowski, D., Ben-Shachar, M. S., Patil, I., Waggoner, P., Wiernik, B. M., and Th\u00e9riault, R. (2025, January 20). CRAN: Contributed packages, Available online: https:\/\/cran.r-project.org\/web\/packages\/performance\/index.html."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"356","DOI":"10.1177\/1077559520988353","article-title":"Why are men more likely to endorse myths about child sexual abuse than women? Evidence from disposition and situation-based approaches","volume":"27","author":"Antunes","year":"2022","journal-title":"Child Maltreatment"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"538","DOI":"10.1080\/10538712.2016.1189474","article-title":"Teachers\u2019 knowledge and beliefs about child sexual abuse","volume":"25","year":"2016","journal-title":"Journal of Child Sexual Abuse"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3580","DOI":"10.1177\/0886260511403762","article-title":"Rape and child sexual abuse: What beliefs persist about motives, perpetrators, and survivors?","volume":"26","author":"McGee","year":"2011","journal-title":"Journal of Interpersonal Violence"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"439","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2206.2012.00863.x","article-title":"(Un)-blaming mothers whose partners sexually abuse children: In view of heteronormative myths, pressures and authorities","volume":"18","author":"McLaren","year":"2013","journal-title":"Child & Family Social Work"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Moosbrugger, H., and Kelava, A. (2020). Testtheorie und fragebogenkonstruktion, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-662-61532-4"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1177\/082957359401000106","article-title":"Sexual abuse myths held by student teachers","volume":"10","author":"Moskal","year":"1994","journal-title":"Canadian Journal of School Psychology"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"368","DOI":"10.1177\/1049731504265836","article-title":"An initial validation of a measure of personal and social perceptions of the sexual abuse of males","volume":"14","author":"Nalavany","year":"2004","journal-title":"Research on Social Work Practice"},{"key":"ref_36","first-page":"371","article-title":"Controlling for confirmation bias in child sexual abuse interviews","volume":"49","author":"Cirlugea","year":"2021","journal-title":"The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"459","DOI":"10.1177\/1059840512446949","article-title":"Impact of a school-based sexual abuse prevention education program on the knowledge and attitude of high school girls","volume":"28","author":"Ogunfowokan","year":"2012","journal-title":"The Journal of School Nursing: The Official Publication of the National Association of School Nurses"},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"R Core Team (2024). R: A language and environment for statistical computing [Computer software], R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available online: https:\/\/www.R-project.org\/."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Revelle, W. (2025, January 20). CRAN: Contributed packages, Available online: https:\/\/cran.r-project.org\/web\/packages\/psych\/index.html."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"374","DOI":"10.1007\/s11121-014-0499-6","article-title":"Child sexual abuse prevention training for childcare professionals: An independent multi-site randomized controlled trial of stewards of children","volume":"16","author":"Rheingold","year":"2015","journal-title":"Prevention Science"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v048.i02","article-title":"Lavaan: An R package for structural equation modeling","volume":"48","author":"Rosseel","year":"2012","journal-title":"Journal of Statistical Software"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"332","DOI":"10.1037\/0002-9432.71.3.332","article-title":"Variables in delayed disclosure of childhood sexual abuse","volume":"71","author":"Somer","year":"2001","journal-title":"The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry"},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"700","DOI":"10.1007\/s13178-019-00427-8","article-title":"Teaching About sexualized violence in educational and clinical institutions: Evaluation of an interdisciplinary university curriculum","volume":"17","author":"Wazlawik","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sexuality Research and Social Policy"},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"136","DOI":"10.54005\/geneltip.1199849","article-title":"Childhood sexual abuse myths of mothers of children with intellectual disabilities and related introductory factors","volume":"33","author":"Demirer","year":"2023","journal-title":"Genel T\u0131p Dergisi"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"265","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1745-3984.2002.tb01178.x","article-title":"Test scoring","volume":"39","author":"Thissen","year":"2002","journal-title":"Journal of Educational Measurement"},{"key":"ref_46","unstructured":"Tivian (2025, January 20). Unipark [Computer software], Available online: https:\/\/www.unipark.com\/."},{"key":"ref_47","first-page":"859","article-title":"Preventing sexual abuse of children and adolescents with disabilities\u2014Evaluation results of a prevention training for university students","volume":"5","author":"Verlinden","year":"2016","journal-title":"International Journal of Technology and Inclusice Education"}],"container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-328X\/15\/2\/143\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]],"date-time":"2025-10-08T10:37:48Z","timestamp":1759919868000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-328X\/15\/2\/143"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,28]]},"references-count":47,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2]]}},"alternative-id":["bs15020143"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/bs15020143","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-328X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-328X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,28]]}}}