Assessing the Effects of Childhelp’s Speak Up be Safe Child Abuse Prevention Curriculum for High School Students

Abstract

Purpose This study examined the Childhelp Speak Up Be Safe (CHSUBS) child abuse prevention curriculum for high school students and addressed a gap in evidence-based child maltreatment prevention programs. CHSUBS is grounded in theory and was developed to 1) provide students with the skills they need to prevent or interrupt child abuse, bullying, and neglect, and 2) increase student knowledge about safety related to abuse. Methods Utilizing a cluster-randomized controlled trial design, the three high schools were randomly assigned to participate in the CHSUBS curriculum or the control group. Survey items measured the efficacy of the curriculum in grades 9 through 12. Surveys were implemented at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and after 6 months for a follow-up. Analyses included exploratory factor analyses and a paired samples t–test to determine whether increases in child maltreatment knowledge and resistance skills were gained. Results Findings showed positive significant results that child maltreatment knowledge and resistance skills were significantly different from pre to post for the CHSUBS group and showed no significant control group changes. Conclusions High school students in the CHSUBS group appeared to gain both child maltreatment knowledge and resistance skills. Future studies on prevention programming for high school students might show results that lead to a reduction in child maltreatment and an increase in better health outcomes for adolescents.

Effectiveness of school-based child sexual abuse intervention among school children in the new millennium era: Systematic review and meta-analyses

“…The studies involved 14,817 school children from preschool level (20,21), primary/elementary school level (23 studies) including a study in special schools for deaf and hard of hearing children, and secondary school level (22,23). One study was done at both primary and secondary levels (24) and one study was done in a school for children with developmental delays and disorders involving children aged 10 years old to 15 years old (25).…”

“…A total of eight studies used RCT as a study design (22,23,(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31), and 21 studies by quasi-experimental (20,21,24,25,(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48). Evaluation of the school-based CSA intervention programs involved the evaluation of knowledge (24 studies), skills (13 studies), and attitude (3 studies) toward CSA.…”

Empowering Elementary and Middle School Youth to Speak Up and Be Safe: Advancing Prevention of Child Maltreatment with a Universal School-Based Curriculum

“…Childhelp's SUBS curriculum is designed for all grades (pre-kindergarten to 12) and focuses on disrupting all forms of child maltreatment, including neglect and online bullying. The SUBS curriculum teaches age-appropriate definitions and universal strategies to foster self-protective skills with developmentally appropriate materials [36] that are grounded in ecological system theory [37] and resiliency theory [38,39]. Each SUBS lesson (at every grade level) includes activities to provide practice on the application of skills across multiple contexts to distinguish what students need to stay safe and healthy.…”