The sexual abuse of children is a serious social problem that must be prevented through distinct measures. Among them is the application of treatments to those who have already committed sex crimes in order to prevent them from committing a new one. To assess the efficacy of sexual offense treatment, the most common method has been to compare the recidivism rates of treated and untreated groups. Several meta-analyses in this regard—as well as some specific studies in Spain—have shown that the application of treatment is associated with lower recidivism rates. However, the analysis of the subjects’ recidivism alone does not reveal the therapeutic changes that the treatment may elicit in them. Some international studies have evaluated the therapeutic improvements resulting from the application of treatments to men who had sexually abused children. In this context, this study explores the therapeutic changes experienced by a sample of subjects imprisoned for child abuse (N = 145), after participating in the treatment program applied in the Spanish prison system. Nine therapeutic variables were assessed (such as anxiety, cognitive distortions, impulsivity, and social self-esteem), before and after treatment, using an instrument named the Psychological Assessment Scale for Sex Offenders (PASSO). The obtained results show that most of the assessed therapeutic variables improved after treatment, with strong correlations between them. The implications of the results for treatment practice are discussed, as well as the main methodological limitations of this research.

对儿童的性虐待是一个严重的社会问题，必须通过不同的措施加以预防。其中包括对已经犯下性犯罪的人进行治疗，以防止他们再次犯下性犯罪。为了评估性犯罪治疗的效果，最常用的方法是比较治疗组和未治疗组的累犯率。这方面的几项荟萃分析以及西班牙的一些具体研究表明，治疗的应用与较低的累犯率有关。然而，仅对受试者累犯的分析并不能揭示治疗可能在他们身上引起的治疗变化。一些国际研究评估了对遭受性虐待儿童的男性进行治疗所带来的治疗改善。N = 145)，在参与西班牙监狱系统的治疗计划后。使用名为性犯罪者心理评估量表（PASSO）的工具在治疗前后评估了九个治疗变量（如焦虑、认知扭曲、冲动和社会自尊）。获得的结果表明，大多数评估的治疗变量在治疗后得到改善，它们之间具有很强的相关性。讨论了结果对治疗实践的影响，以及本研究的主要方法学局限性。