Examination of Public Perceptions of Four Types of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs Brandon Kopp Raymond Miltenberger.

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


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


Strongly Disagree


Strongly Disagree


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


Strongly Disagree


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

ResultsMeans


Stranger 25.78 25.02

Known Individual 23.22 21.15

7891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435

Stranger Known


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


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

Discussion – Recommendations for Future ResearchReplicate study with a more ecologically

valid participant sample Parents School administrators

Add questions to assess participants’ knowledge of sexual abuse perpetrators and effectiveness of training methods

Examination of Public Perceptions of Four Types of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs Brandon Kopp Raymond Miltenberger.

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