Session: Parents As Partners in the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse (Society for Prevention Research 25th Annual Meeting)

SESSION INTRODUCTION: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with a host of serious, long-term negative outcomes for victims. Parents are best situated to protect their children from CSA, yet many do not discuss personal safety with their child due to lack of knowledge, skills, or discomfort with the topic. Prevention educators are challenged to create initiatives to support families in developing knowledge and skills to reduce the likelihood of CSA and learn appropriate ways to respond to a disclosure. The Committee for Children has developed a suite of family videos as part of the Second Step Child Protection Unit, designed to help parents promote child personal safety. In this symposium, we will present three papers generated from a mixed-method systematic evaluation of these videos.

The first paper, “Predictors of Parental Discussion with Youth Children about Health and Safety,” examined the parental characteristics associated with parents’ pre-intervention discussions with their young children (ages 3-11 years) about nutrition and CSA. Results indicated that family communication and support predicted discussions of both nutrition and safety. Discussions about CSA (but not nutrition) were also predicted by parental education and personal experience with CSA. Knowing someone who was abused moderated the relationship between family communication and support and parent-child discussions of CSA.

The second paper, “The Role of Parental Motivation in Parent-Child Discussions: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Child Sexual Abuse Intervention,” presents the results of a randomized control trial examining the effectiveness of the Second Step family videos as a tool to promote parent-child discussion about CSA and protective actions. Half of a national sample of parents was randomly assigned to view the Second Step family videos and the other half viewed videos about nutrition and exercise. Relative to controls, viewing the CSA videos was associated with greater discussion of CSA and this relationship was mediated via increased motivation.

The third paper, “Parent Perspectives on Childhood Sexual Abuse Prevention Education: Risks, Barriers, and Challenges,” describes the findings from a national focus group study asking parents/guardians of young children to evaluate the Second Step family video suite. Participants discussed their emotional reactions to the videos, parenting practices intended to keep their children safe from CSA, as well as barriers to parent-child discussions about CSA and handling disclosures of abuse. Findings provide insights to guide future intervention efforts.

Following presentation of the papers, the discussant will make a summary statement and moderate discussion among the presenters and symposium attendees.