|
 This reinforces the findings of previous reviews, said lead author
Kerryann Walsh of Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane,
Australia.
“The programs increase children’s knowledge of child sexual abuse
concepts and their skills in reacting and responding to risky
situations,” Walsh told Reuters Health by email.
But, “these programs are not an inoculation against child sexual
abuse,” she added.
The reviewers analyzed 24 trials of school-based prevention
programs, including a total of almost 6,000 elementary and high
school students in the U.S., Canada, China, Germany, Spain, Taiwan
and Turkey.
The programs all varied in their methods, but many taught kids
safety rules, body ownership, private parts of the body,
distinguishing types of touches and types of secrets, and who to
tell. Some used films, plays, songs, puppets, books or games, and
others included role-play and discussion.
The shortest programs consisted of a single 45-minute session, while
others involved up to eight 20-minute sessions on consecutive days.
Based on questionnaires and vignettes used to test the programs’
effects, kids in the programs demonstrated greater knowledge of
protective behaviors and knowledge of sex abuse prevention concepts.
And those knowledge gains seemed to last at least six months after
the school program ended, according to four of the trials.
About four in 1,000 kids who did not participate in the prevention
programs reported some form of sexual abuse, compared to 14 of every
1,000 kids in the prevention programs, the authors report in the
Cochrane Library.
Anecdotally, the programs do seem to increase disclosures, Walsh
said, but many of the studies included in the review did not collect
this data.
“Of the small number of studies that did, the data was somewhat
imprecise so we conclude that programs do increase disclosures, but
with caution that further studies are needed to determine if this is
a true effect,” Walsh said.
The prevention programs did not seem to increase or decrease kids’
levels of anxiety or fear.
[to top of second column] |
The review supports the continued use of prevention programs in
schools. They’ve been in use in the U. S. since the 1980’s, and are
now conducted in many developed countries and some developing
countries, Walsh said.
“These types of programs are similar to the interactive school based
prevention programs for smoking and drug use which have documented
effectiveness,” said Elizabeth L. Jeglic, who conducts sex offender
research at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, and
was not part of the new review.
The new results suggest that prevention efforts should be continued
and standardized, she told Reuters Health by email.
“While there is evidence that these programs can work, the content
of what actually works is often not spelled out,” said Georgia
Babatsikos, who researches child sexual abuse at Deakin University
in Victoria, Australia. “Also the focus on children and the lack of
evaluation of prevention programs targeting parents and caregivers
is worrisome.”
Babatsikos was not part of the review.
Parents should start talking to kids about sexual abuse at three to
four years of age, using age-appropriate language and discussing
safety in snippets, she told Reuters Health by email.
“These conversations need to occur regularly throughout childhood
and teenagehood,” she said.
In addition to student education, teachers must know how to
recognize and respond to abuse disclosures, and have a protocol for
mandatory reporting, Walsh said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1IiGGTl Cochrane Library, online April 16,
2015.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
