Elsevier

Child Abuse & Neglect

Volume 16, Issue 6, November–December 1992, Pages 865-876
Child Abuse & Neglect

Sexual abuse prevention education for young children: A comparison of teachers and parents as instructors

https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(92)90088-9Get rights and content

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare teachers and parents as instructions of a personal safety program. One hundred seventy-two Head Start preschoolers were randomly assigned to a personal safety program taught by their teachers, parents, both teachers and parents, or to a general safety control program. Following program participation, children taught the personal safety program by their teachers, parents, or both, demonstrated greater knowledge about sexual abuse and higher levels of personal safety skills compared with those in the control group. Gains in knowledge and skills were maintained at the 5-month follow up. Children taught by their parents showed greater improvements in recognizing inappropriate-touch requests and in their personal safety skills compared with children taught by their teachers, and children who received the program both at home and school were better able to recognize appropriate-touch requests and to demonstrate higher levels of personal safety skills compared with children taught only at school. The emotional costs associated with participating in the program were minimal, and both parents and children rated the program positively. The advantages of home-based instruction for young children are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.

Résumé

Cetté etude avait pour but de comparer enseignants et parents en tant qu'instructeurs de programmes de śecurit́e personnelle. De facon aĺeatoire, 172 enfants d'age pŕescolaire ont́ et́e affect́es á des “classes” òu le programme était donńe soit par les parents, des enseignants, des parents et des enseignants ensemble, où a des classes servant de groupes contrôles qui enseignaient la śecurit́e en ǵeńeral. Une fois le programme termińe, on a not́e que les enfants des classes meńees par les parents ou par les enseignants d́emontraient de meillueres connaissances à propos des abus sexuels ainsi que des comṕetences plus marqúees en matìere de śecurit́e personnelle, que les enfants dans les groupes contr̂oles. Cinq mois plus tard, les connaissances tenaient. Les enfants qui ont eu leurs parents comme instructeurs étaient plus aptes à reconnâitre les touchers inacceptables que les enfants de groupes menes par des enseignants. Les enfants qui ont fait partie du programme et̀ a la maison et a l'ecole etaeint plus connaissants que leurs pairs formes a ĺ'ecole. Les exigences affectiveś etaient minimes et parents et enfants ont bien appŕecíe le programme. L'article traite des avantages que tirent les jeunes enfants de l'enseignement́ a la maison et discute de recherches possibles.

Resumen

El objetivo de esto estudio era comparar los maestros y los padres de ambos sexos como instructores de un programma de seguridad personal. Ciento setentidos pre-escolares del programs “Head Start” fueron asignados al azar a un programa de seguridad personal impartido por sus maestros, padres, tanto padres como maestros o a un programa general de control de seguridad personal. Despúes de participar en el programa, los niños que hab́ian participado en las clases impartidas por sus maestros, los padres, o por ambos, demonstraron mayores conocimientos sobre el abuso sexual y mayores niveles de habilidades de seguridad personal en comparacíon con los controles. Las ventajas en conocimiento y habilidades se mateńian en el estudio de seguimiento despues de cinco meses. Los niños que recibieron clases de sus padres demonstraton mayor capacidad para reconocer los requerimientos de contacto inadecuado y mejores habilidades de seguridad personal al compararlos con niños que recibieron las clases de sus maestros, y los niños que recibieron el programa tanto en casa como en la escuela pudieron reconocer los requerimientos de contacto inadecuado y demostrar mayores niveles en su capacidad de seguridad personal comparados con niños que solo recibieron instrucciones en la escuela. El costo emocional asociado a su participaćion en este programa fue ḿinimo, y tanto los padres como los niños evaluaron el programa positivamente. Se discuten las ventajas de la instruccíon en el hogar para los niños pequẽnos y se hacen sugerencias para investigaciones futruas.

References (30)

  • F.N. Dempster

    The spacing effect: A case study in the failure to apply the results of psychological research

    American Psychologist

    (1988)
  • F.N. Dempster et al.

    The spacing effect: Research and practice

    Journal of Research and Development in Education

    (1990)
  • D. Finkelhor

    Child sexual abuse: New theory and research

    (1984)
  • N. Gilbert et al.

    Child sexual abuse prevention: Evaluation of educational materials for preschool programs

    (1988)
  • H. Griffiths et al.

    Generalization in operant speech therapy for misarticulation

    Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders

    (1972)
  • Cited by (83)

    • Recall of sexual abuse prevention education at school and home: Associations with sexual abuse experience, disclosure, protective parenting, and knowledge

      2022, Child Abuse and Neglect
      Citation Excerpt :

      Although studies can be limited in scope, research has consistently revealed that about half of parents report educating their children about CSA and/or protective behaviors (Prikhidko & Kenny, 2021; Rudolph et al., 2018b; Walsh et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2020). Six studies, from various parts of the world, have examined the effect of parent education on child knowledge or hypothetical skills: USA (Finkelhor et al., 1995; Wurtele et al., 1992), China (Jin et al., 2017, 2019), Indonesia (Pandia et al., 2016), and Turkey (Cırık et al., 2019). Jin et al. (2019) assessed 452 parents' educational practices, their children's knowledge, and hypothetical prevention skills, and found PLSAE had a direct effect on children's CSA self-protection skills, but not their CSA knowledge.

    • Parents as Teachers: Mothers’ Roles in Sexual Abuse Prevention Education in Gorgan, Iran

      2020, Child Abuse and Neglect
      Citation Excerpt :

      Another way to increase parents’ willingness and motivation to become educated on this topic would be to assess parents’ experience with and knowledge about CSA, and to administer the PSQ and WIST to their children. Research in the U.S. has shown that parents with previous CSA experience or increased knowledge tend to make more effort to address the topic with their children (Deblinger, Thakkar-Kolar, Berry, & Schroeder, 2010; Wurtele et al., 1992). Providing feedback to parents about their children’s low knowledge and level of personal safety skills could also enhance their motivation and willingness to participate.

    • Parental practice of child sexual abuse prevention education in China: Does it have an influence on child's outcome?

      2019, Children and Youth Services Review
      Citation Excerpt :

      These parents may also be better able to identify children's victimization in a timely way, respond appropriately to disclosures, and take help-seeking measures (Burgess & Wurtele, 1998; Kenny, 2009). Parents have been shown to be effective instructors of personal safety in evaluation programs, where children taught by parents showed greater improvements in recognizing inappropriate-touch requests and in applying personal safety skills compared with children in control groups (Jin, Chen, & Yu, 2017; Wurtele, Kast, & Melzer, 1992). By involving parents in a workshop on CSA prevention issues, some studies demonstrated parents improved their knowledge about CSA (Tremblay & Bégin, 2000) and reported greater intentions to talk about CSA with their children (Burgess & Wurtele, 1998).

    • Evaluation of second step child protection videos: A randomized controlled trial

      2018, Child Abuse and Neglect
      Citation Excerpt :

      Findings regarding exposure to CSA were more mixed; parents’ personal experience or exposure to CSA was an inverse predictor of knowledge and motivation, but a positive predictor of communicating with their child about CSA. The finding that exposure to CSA was associated with more communication about the topic with their children is consistent with previous research indicating that parents with previous CSA experience or knowledge may be more sensitive to the deleterious effects of CSA on children and make more effort to address the topic with their children (Deblinger, Thakkar-Kolar, Berry, & Schroeder, 2010; Wurtele, Kast, & Melzer, 1992). CSA programs and their evaluations are outdated and not accessible via the Internet (Babatsikos, 2010; Tutty, 2014; Walsh, Zwi, Woolfenden, & Shlonsky, 2015).

    • The knowledge and skills related to sexual abuse prevention among Chinese children with hearing loss in Beijing

      2017, Disability and Health Journal
      Citation Excerpt :

      Although there are some difficulties for deaf children to communicate with people outside of the home, timely help from outside is particularly important. The CSA prevention education study found that education could significantly increase the percentage of children who would tell the abuse to trusted person,32 showing that it is important to let children know there are many trustworthy adults in their schools and communities who can protect them from sexual abuse and also can provide timely help to children who have been abused. Nevertheless, previous surveys among Chinese teachers and school health personnel of hearing students revealed that many of them cannot recognize the characteristics of CSA perpetrators.49,50

    View all citing articles on Scopus

    This project was funded by a FIRST Award (MH 42795) from the National Institute of Mental Health.

    1

    The authors wish to thank Judy Gibian-Mennenga, Joy Hines, Deborah Stinson, Heather Moxley, the interviewers, and the parents and teachers from Head Start.

    View full text