Evaluation of a Multi-Session Group Designed to Prevent Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors: The “My Life My Choice” Curriculum

Abstract

The commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) of children is a consequential public health and criminal justice problem, but no CSE prevention programs have been evaluated. The Boston-based My Life My Choice (MLMC) program offers a multisession psychoeducation group to girls who are identified as “at-disproportionate-risk” for CSE victimization and trains other agencies throughout the U.S. to offer this curriculum. The curriculum was designed to improve knowledge about the commercial sex industry and shift-related attitudes and behaviors. The current project was a multi-year, multi-site evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the MLMC prevention group. Using a one-group longitudinal design, changes in participant behavior and CSE knowledge were measured at baseline ( n = 354), upon group completion ( n = 296), and 3 months after group completion ( n = 241). The sample was 95% female-identified, 28% Black/African American, 26% White/non-Hispanic, 25% Hispanic/Latina, and 22% other race. The mean age of participants was 15.6 years old. Approximately 28% identified as bisexual, and 10% identified as lesbian, asexual, pansexual, or other. In multivariable-adjusted models, participants reported fewer episodes of sexually explicit behavior at follow up as compared to baseline (relative risk [RR]: 0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.37-0.72 at Follow-up 1, and 0.53, 95% CI: 0.35-0.82 at Follow-up 2). Participants were 24% less likely to report dating abuse at Follow-up 2 as compared to baseline ( p = .06). In addition, as compared to baseline, participants were 40% more likely to have given help or information about CSE to a friend at Follow-up 2, and participants demonstrated increased knowledge and awareness about CSE and its harms over the follow-up period. Although additional evaluation using a comparison group and long-term follow up would increase confidence that observed changes are attributable to the group instead of other factors, results suggest that the MLMC curriculum may be effective in reducing the risk of CSE and improving other conditions for youth who are at-disproportionate-risk of CSE.

Toward a Global Definition and Understanding of Child Sexual Exploitation: The Development of a Conceptual Model

“… a (Fredlund et al, 2018; Grosso et al, 2015; Kaestle, 2012; Lavoie et al, 2010; Lung et al, 2004; Nadon et al, 1998; Peterson & Hegna, 2003; Swahn et al, 2016; Wilson & Widom, 2010; Yates, 1991) b (Bath et al, 2020; De Vries & Goggin, 2020; Franchino-Olsen, 2021; Hampoton & Lieggi, 2020; Reid, 2011; Reid, 2014; Reid, 2014; Reid et al, 2016; Rothman et al, 2019; Tsutomu, 2019) c (Chohaney, 2016; Ertl et al, 2020; Fedina et al, 2019; Moore et al, 2019, 2020, O’Brien et al, 2017a, 2017; Raj et al, 2019; Twis et al, 2020) d (Chang et al, 2015; De Vries & Goggin, 2020; Lanctot et al, 2020; Naramore et al, 2017; Panlilio et al, 2019; Rothman et al, 2020; Salisbury et al, 2015; Self-Brown et al, 2018) e (Barnert, 2020; Cook & Mott, 2020; CCYP, 2015; Gatwiri et al, 2020; McKibbon, 2017; Svedin et al, 2006; Weston & Mythen, 2020) f (Atwood et al, 2012; Dana et al, 2019; Edwards et al, 2006; Srivastava et al, 2019; Ulloa et al, 2016; Zamudio-Haas et al, 2020) g (…”

“… b (Bath et al, 2020; De Vries & Goggin, 2020; Franchino-Olsen, 2021; Hampoton & Lieggi, 2020; Reid, 2011; Reid, 2014; Reid, 2014; Reid et al, 2016; Rothman et al, 2019; Tsutomu, 2019)…”

Balancing clinical needs and probation requirements within CSEC specialty courts

“…Although scholars acknowledge that there are no empirically supported treatments for youth who have experienced sexual exploitation, evidence-based treatments for complex trauma are likely to be the most effective option at the current time (see Basson et al, 2018 for a discussion of complex trauma in the context of sexual exploitation). Programs are emerging across the country to serve youth who have experienced sexual exploitation and youth at risk for exploitation through services that address prevention (e.g., Rothman et al, 2019a;Rothman et al, 2019b), mental health (e.g., Kinnish et al, 2020), and residential treatment needs (e.g., Thompson et al, 2011). Other research has explored youths' strengths (WestCoast Children's Clinic, 2012) and protective factors, such as positive relationships with peers and adults (Landers et al, 2020;O'Brien, 2018).…”

The State of Programs for Educating Youth about Sex Trafficking in the United States: A Nationwide Scoping Scan Survey

“…Approximately two-thirds of the programs we surveyed had been evaluated, the majority of which were evaluated by either program developers, staff, or facilitators. Notably, despite findings suggesting that many of the programs had undergone some form of evaluation, there are few published studies evaluating sex trafficking educational programs for youth (Murphy et al, 2016;Pierce, 2012;Rothman et al, 2019;Rothman et al, 2020). Without evaluation findings being widely available in the scientific literature or elsewhere, it is challenging for community members and organizations to determine which program might be most promising given the that their program could be appropriate for reaching groups disproportionately impacted by sex trafficking (Anderson et al, 2014;Gerassi & Nichols, 2017;Pierce, 2012).…”