School-Based Education Programs for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Objective: To assess evidence of the effectiveness of school-based education programs for the prevention of child sexual abuse (CSA). The programs deliver information about CSA and strategies to help children avoid it and encourage help seeking. Methods: Systematic review including meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cluster RCTs, and quasi-RCTs. Results: Twenty-four studies with 5,802 participants were included. Child self-protective skills, odds ratio ¼ 5.71, confidence interval ¼ [1.98, 16.51]; factual, standardized mean difference (SMD) ¼ 0.61 [0.45, 0.78]; and applied knowledge, SMD ¼ 0.45 [0.24, 0.65], increased in the intervention group, and knowledge gains were retained at 6 months, SMD ¼ 0.69 [0.51, 0.87].There were no differences in anxiety or fear, SMD ¼ À0.08 [0.22, 0.07], and findings regarding disclosure of abuse were inconclusive. Conclusion: Children's self-protective skills and knowledge can be increased by participation in school-based sexual abuse prevention programs. However, it is unknown whether gains in skills and knowledge actually decrease the likelihood of CSA.

Method of Sex Learning for Children 5-6 years

“…One form of sex education in the West with the existence of school-based programs, and the emergence of this program is considered as an important primary prevention strategy in many countries. There is some evidence from cross-sectional, community-based studies conducted in the United States that participation in school-based CSA prevention programs may decrease the occurrence of CSA [12]. School sex education programs are usually the delivery of sex-related material that is adjusted to the age of the child.…”

What Deters Child Sex Offenders? A Comparison Between Completed and Noncompleted Offenses

“…Typically, in addition to educating children how to recognise 'good' touch and 'bad' touch, and instilling in them a sense of ownership over their bodies and the right to control access to it, the programmes encourage children to be assertive and to adopt various self-protective strategies when they feel in danger -to say 'no', demand to be left alone, yell, threaten to tell, and try to get away (MacIntyre & Carr, 2000). The evidence for the success of such personal safety programmes is mixed (see Barron, 2009 andWalsh, Zwi, Woolfenden &Shlonsky, 2018 for reviews of evaluations). Using a pre-test/post-test design and with follow-up periods on average of around 3 months, evaluation studies generally provide good evidence that children retain key concepts covered in the programmes (MacIntyre & Carr, 2000;Holloway & Pulido, 2018;Pulido, Dauber, Tully et al, 2015;Rispens, Aleman & Goudena, 1997;Topping & Barron, 2009;Walsh et al, 2018).…”

“…The evidence for the success of such personal safety programmes is mixed (see Barron, 2009 andWalsh, Zwi, Woolfenden &Shlonsky, 2018 for reviews of evaluations). Using a pre-test/post-test design and with follow-up periods on average of around 3 months, evaluation studies generally provide good evidence that children retain key concepts covered in the programmes (MacIntyre & Carr, 2000;Holloway & Pulido, 2018;Pulido, Dauber, Tully et al, 2015;Rispens, Aleman & Goudena, 1997;Topping & Barron, 2009;Walsh et al, 2018). Evidence that children actually employ the strategies learned is more limited (Topping & Barron, 2009;Walsh et al, 2018), with only scattered findings of behavioural change in participants.…”

Haurtzaroko sexu abusuak: prebentzio programa baten eraginkortasuna frogatzen

“…Programak erabilitako jarduera praktikoak eraginkorrak izan dira epe luzera zenbait jokabide barneratzeko (Fryer, 1987;Ripens et al, 1997). Hala ere, ikerketak aipatzen duenez, ezagutzak mantentzeko egokia izaten da noizean behin errepikatzea (Walsh, Zwi, Woolfenden eta Shlonsky, 2018).…”