Social workers have long been concerned about whether child-directed school-based programs are effective in preventing sexual abuse. Knowing children's prior knowledge of abuse prevention concepts and what changes after intervention would be invaluable to program personnel.
Method
This secondary analysis involved 231 elementary school children who were randomly assigned (matched by age) to participate in the “Who Do You Tell” sexual abuse prevention program (n = 117) or in a wait-list control condition (n = 114). Chi-square analyses compared changes on each item of the Children's Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire-Revised based on treatment versus control condition and developmental level (ages 5 to 7 compared to ages 8 to 13).
Results
Three items significantly improved for children in the program as compared to those in the control condition across ages.
Conclusions
The results suggest several changes in teaching prevention concepts.
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