Examination of Public Perceptions of Four Types of Child Sexual
Abuse Prevention Programs
Brandon Kopp
Raymond Miltenberger
Introduction1 in 5 children is victimized before
reaching adulthoodSexual abuse has been shown to have
severe and long lasting effects
Introduction – Training Methods
Information-Based Examples
Verbal Presentation Video Coloring/Activity Book Theatrical
Presentation
Behavioral Skills Training (BST)
Instruction Modeling Rehearsal Social Reinforcement Corrective Feedback
Introduction – Program Content
Basic Principles of Sexual Abuse Prevention Body Ownership Types of Touching Refusing, Escaping and Reporting Skills
Strangers vs. Known Individuals as Perpetrators of Sexual Abuse 90% of children are abused by people they know
Introduction - Hypothesis Since practice has been shown to be most
effective in teaching skills, and children are most often abused by someone they know, a program incorporating Known Perpetrators and BST should be most highly rated
Hypothesis: Because it is easier to administer and is viewed as less controversial, a program incorporating Strangers as offenders and Information-Based training methods will be most highly rated by participants
Method – Participants59 Participants (34 female, 25 male)Age
Mean = 21.34 SD = 2.80 Range = 18.78 – 34.66
Participants who took part in this study earned extra credit for 100 – 300 level psychology courses at NDSU
Method - Questionnaire
Main Program Description Program Format
Common Content Body Ownership Types of Touching Refusing, Escaping, and Reporting Skills
# of sessions (2) Length of each session (45 min.)
Age of participants (10) Size of groups (10-20 children)
Method – Questionnaire (cont.)Four Different Versions of Main Program
Type of Perpetrator Stranger vs. Known Individual
Training Method Information-Based vs. Behavioral Skills Training
Information-Based BST
Stranger Stranger/Info Stranger/BST
Known Individual Known/Info Known/BST
Modified Treatment Evaluation Inventory – Short Form (TEI-SF)
I find this training program to be an acceptable way of teaching children sexual abuse prevention skills.
I would be willing to use this training program if I had to teach children sexual abuse prevention skills.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Strongly Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
I like the methods used in this training program.
I believe this training program is likely to be effective.
I believe the child receiving training will experience discomfort during the training program.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Strongly Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Strongly Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
I believe this training program is likely to result in permanent improvement in a child’s sexual abuse prevention skills.
Overall, I have a positive reaction to this training program.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Strongly Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Method - Questionnaire Participants’ answers for question 1-4, 6, and 7
were coded as follows: Strongly Disagree = 1 Disagree = 2 Neutral = 3 Agree = 4 Strongly Agree = 5
Answers for question 5 were reverse coded This gives a range of possible scores of 7 – 35 The higher a program version was rated the more
acceptable participants thought it was
Method - Procedure Participants were given the following
instructions: Do not share answers with other participants Read through each version in the order it appears
in the packet Rate each of the versions using the 7 statement
evaluation form below each one Rate each of the program versions independently of
one another
7891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435
Stranger Known
Information-Based BST
Results - Comparison of Means
Results – 2-Way RM ANOVA
Main EffectsType of Perpetrator
F(1,57) = 14.832, p < 0.001, sig.Training Method
F(1,57) = 8.270, p < 0.01, sig.
InteractionPerpetrator X Training Method
F (1,57) = 2.420, p > 0.05, ns
Paired Samples T-Tests
Stranger/BST
(25.02)
> Known/BST
(21.15)
p < 0.001
Stranger/Info
(25.78)
> Known/Info
(23.19)
p < 0.01
Known/Info
(23.19)
> Known/BST
(21.15)
p < 0.05
Stranger/Info
(25.78)
> Known/BST
(21.15)
p < 0.001
Results - Exploratory Analyses (cont.)
Effects of Participant Characteristics No significant effects were found for any of
our between-subjects variables Gender CSA prevention training as a child CSA prevention training as an adult Volunteer experience dealing with CSA Experience with CSA victimization (either self
or through someone close to them)
ResultsKronbach’s Alpha Test of Reliability
Information-Based BST
Stranger 0.8724 0.9064
Known Individual 0.9138 0.9142
Discussion - ConclusionsWith a scale of 7 - 35, a score of 21
would be the dividing point between acceptable and not
Mean scores fell between 21.15 and 25.78, showing none were rated as highly acceptable
Discussion - ConclusionsWhen strangers are shown as
perpetrators, training method is not important
Programs portraying strangers as offenders were rated significantly higher than programs portraying known individuals as perpetrators of sexual abuse
Discussion - Conclusions If known individuals are shown as
perpetrators then an information-based program is preferable
Those programs utilizing strangers as perpetrators and information-based training methods are preferable to programs using known individuals and BST
Discussion – This Study’s Weaknesses
Using students as ratersNo determination of whether differences
were due to lack of knowledge or biases toward programs that are easier to administer and less controversial
No assessment of participants’ reading ability