Perceptions of Juvenile Sexual Abuse Victims: A Meta-Analysis on Vignette-Based Studies on the Effects of Victims’ Age and Respondents’ Gender

Abstract

This study synthesizes results of vignette-based studies on lay perceptions of juvenile sexual victimization. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify factors affecting perceptions of juvenile sexual abuse victims. Then meta-analytic techniques were utilized to calculate average effects of victim age and respondent gender on perceived victim credibility and culpability. The average effects of victim age and respondent gender were modest. Results from moderation tests suggest that some of the variation in effect size estimates across studies can be explained by vignette and sample characteristics. Findings suggest that prior research may be misstating the effects of victim age and respondent gender by failing to account for vignette content.

Keywords:

• adolescent
• victim
• methodology/methodological issues
• sexual abuse