While existing studies have examined the effectiveness of school-based child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention programs in China, there is currently little qualitative evidence on how stakeholders view these programs and research on CSA in China more generally. To address this research gap, the aims of this study were to explore stakeholders’ perspectives on: (a) school-based CSA prevention programs in China; (b) the components of these programs; (c) CSA research in China. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 participants in Beijing and a county under Lanzhou City, China. Interview transcripts were systematically coded and emerging themes were developed from the codes. An inductive thematic analysis approach was utilized to analyze the interview data. Participants’ perspectives on school-based CSA prevention programs included: (a) recognition of the importance of school-based CSA prevention programs; (b) fear about a possible negative impact on children participating in such programs; (c) assessment that school-based CSA prevention programs alone are not enough to prevent CSA. Components that participants thought needed to be part of Chinese school-based CSA prevention programs were: (a) content regarding online-facilitated CSA; (b) the use of a rights-based approach; and (c) greater parental and community involvement. Participants also identified factors that have both fostered the implementation of CSA research (e.g., the growing awareness of CSA in the central government) and prevented researchers from effectively conducting CSA research: (a) lack of national data; (b) inadequate government support; and (c) barriers to research collaboration among organizations. The findings indicate that while CSA prevention programs are on the whole regarded positively by key stakeholders in China, a number of important concerns were identified. Our study highlighted a number of ways in which future CSA prevention programs and research on CSA could be strengthened in the Chinese context.
Purpose The purposes of this systematic review were to systematically summarize components in existing school-based child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention programs and identify predictors for program effectiveness. Method Building upon the most comprehensive systematic review on this topic, we conducted systematic searches in both English-language from September 2014 to October 2020 and Chinese-language from inception to October, 2020. Meta-regressions were performed to identify predictors for program effectiveness. Results Thirty-one studies were included with a total sample size of 9049 participants. Results from meta-analyses suggested that interventions are effective in increasing participants’ CSA knowledge as assessed via questionnaires ( g = 0.72, 95% CI [0.52–0.93]) and vignette-based measures ( g = 0.55, 95% CI [0.35–0.74]). Results from meta-regression suggested that interventions with more than three sessions are more effective than interventions with fewer sessions. Interventions appear to be more effective with children who are 8 years and older than younger children. Discussion CSA is a global issue that has significant negative effects on victims’ physical, psychological, and sexual well-being. Our findings also provide recommendations for future research, particularly in terms of optimizing the effectiveness of school-based CSA prevention programs, and the better reporting of intervention components as well as participant characteristics.
Background: Existing efforts to understand school-based child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention programs mainly focus on the effectiveness of these programs in increasing participants’ CSA knowledge and self-protective skills. There are currently no reviews addressing the underpinning pathways leading to these outcomes. In order to increase our understanding about the underpinning causal and contextual factors and inform the further development of school-based CSA prevention programs, a realist review was conducted to synthesize existing evidence from a broad range of data. Methods: An iterative search of electronic databases and grey literature was conducted, supplemented with citation tracking to locate relevant literature. For quantitative evidence, we considered evaluation studies that focused on students aged 5–18 years, who were enrolled in primary or secondary schools; for other types/formats of studies/documents, no population restrictions were applied. We included school-based CSA prevention programs that focused on improving knowledge of CSA or self-protective skills. Outcomes of interest included knowledge of CSA or self-protective skills. We did not apply methodological filters in terms of the types of studies to be included. Thematic content analysis was conducted to synthesize data. Results: Sixty-two studies were included. Five themes and five overarching Context-Strategy-Mechanism-Outcome configurations (CSMOs) that contributed to the success of school-based CSA interventions were identified, including tailoring programs to participants’ cognitive developmental levels, repeated exposure of key concepts and skills, utilization of interactive delivery methods and positive feedback, delivery of positive information and application of the ‘train-the-trainer’ model. Implications: Findings from this realist review provide insights into the underlying program theory of school-based CSA prevention programs, which can aid in the development and implementation of these programs in the future.
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