Community-level moderators of a school-based childhood sexual assault prevention program

Abstract

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is highly prevalent and associated with a wide variety of negative mental and physical health outcomes. School-based CSA education and prevention programs have shown promise, but it is unclear to what extent community-level characteristics are related to their effectiveness. The present cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated community-level moderators of the Safe@Last program compared to a waitlist control condition. Knowledge gains from pre- to post-intervention were assessed in 5 domains: safe versus unsafe people; safe choices; problem-solving; clear disclosure; and assertiveness. Participants were 1,177 students (46% White, 26% African American, 15% Hispanic, 4% Asian American, 6% Other) in grades 1 through 6 from 14 public schools in Tennessee. Multilevel models accounting for the nesting of children within schools revealed large effect sizes for the intervention versus control across all knowledge domains (d’s ranged from 1.56 to 2.13). The effectiveness of the program was moderated by mean per capita income and rates of substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect in the community. Intervention effects were stronger for youth living in lower as compared to higher income counties, and for youth attending schools in counties with lower as compared to higher abuse/neglect rates. Child characteristics (sex, race) did not moderate intervention effects. This research identified two community-level factors that predicted the effectiveness of a CSA education and prevention program designed to improve children’s knowledge of personal safety skills. School-based CSA prevention programs may require modification for communities with higher rates of child abuse and neglect.

“If Only I Could Have Stopped It”: Reflections of Adult Child Sexual Abuse Survivors on Their Responses During the Abuse

“…Despite the fact that such responses have not been empirically reported in the area of CSA, the belief that these are the “correct” or “appropriate” responses has affected the field in two main ways. First, in prevention programs, children are still instructed to fight or flee when they find themselves in situations of CSA (Daigneault et al, 2012; Finkelhor, 2009; Morris et al, 2017). Second, in the forensic context, the credibility of CSA survivors is still assessed based on fight-or-flight responses: They are assumed to be more credible if they used such responses (e.g., Katz et al, 2020; Suarez & Gallup, 1979).…”

Integrative review addressing the effectiveness of child sexual abuse preventive interventions

“…In turn, Morris et al (2017) assessed the Safe@Last, a program, implemented in the United States, that addressed sixth-grade students. The program trained children to distinguish between safe and unsafe people, acquire problem-solving capacity, assertiveness, and learn disclosure methods.…”

Child sexual abuse knowledge/attitude scale for parents: Reliability and validity of the Turkish version

“…Each item is assessed between 1 and 5 points, with a total score range between 38 and 190 and a high score indicating a good level of knowledge and healthy attitudes associated with child abuse. Twenty-two items (3,4,6,9,10,11,15,17,18,20,21,23,25,27,28,29,30,32,33,34,35, and 36) on the scale are rated from "1-strongly disagree" to "5-strongly agree;" 16 items (1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 22, 24, 26, 31, 37, and 38) are rated in reverse, with the expression "strongly disagree" rated as "5," and the phrase "strongly agree" rated as "1. "…”

“…After determining the informational needs and attitudes of each family toward abuse, appropriate practices will be developed and implemented to increase awareness in different families. [15][16][17][18] The aim of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the child sexual abuse knowledge/attitude scale for parents (CSAKAS).…”