Child sexual abuse (CSA) has been described as a highly stigmatizing experience. Despite the recognition of shame as a significant contributor to psychological distress following CSA, an inhibitor of CSA disclosure, and a challenging emotion to overcome in therapy, limited research has explored the experience of shame with young people who have been sexually abused. This study is unique in examining the transcripts of 47 young people aged 15–25 years from a large-scale study conducted in Ireland and Canada and exploring manifestations of shame in CSA disclosure narratives. Using a thematic analysis of both inductive and deductive coding, the data were examined for implicit, as distinct from explicit, manifestations of shame. Three key themes were identified in this study: languaging shame, avoiding shame, and reducing shame. The study supports previous authors in highlighting the need for nuanced measures of shame in research that takes account of the complexity of this emotion. Conceptualizations in the literature of the distinction between shame and guilt are challenged when these emotions are explored in the context of CSA. Finally, recommendations for working therapeutically with young people who have experienced CSA are offered with a view to addressing shame in therapeutic work.

儿童性虐待 (CSA) 被描述为一种高度污名化的经历。尽管人们认识到羞耻是导致 CSA 后心理困扰的重要因素、CSA 披露的抑制因素以及治疗中需要克服的挑战性情绪，但有限的研究探索了遭受性虐待的年轻人的羞耻经历。这项研究的独特之处在于它检查了在爱尔兰和加拿大进行的一项大规模研究中 47 名 15-25 岁年轻人的成绩单，并探索了 CSA 披露叙述中羞耻的表现。使用对归纳和演绎编码的主题分析，对数据进行了检查，以了解羞耻的隐含表现与显性表现不同。本研究确定了三个关键主题：语言羞耻、避免羞耻和减少羞耻。该研究支持以前的作者强调在考虑到这种情绪的复杂性的研究中需要对羞耻进行细微的测量。当在 CSA 的背景下探索这些情绪时，文献中关于羞耻和内疚之间区别的概念受到挑战。最后，提供了与经历过 CSA 的年轻人进行治疗工作的建议，以解决治疗工作中的羞耻感。