NCJ Number
150595
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 18 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1994) Pages: 557- 568
Date Published
1994
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Two common information sources, prevention education programs and discussion of child sexual abuse with parents, were examined in terms of their influence on boys' perceptions of their risk for child sexual abuse.
Abstract
The participants were 44 white males ages 10-16 in a public school system or Boy Scout groups in the northeastern United States. The organizations provided lists of boys; permission to conduct the interview was obtained from both parent and child. The structured interviews lasted approximately 45 minutes each. Results revealed that exposure to prevention education programs was associated with a lower perceived likelihood of being sexually abused, and discussion of child sexual abuse with parents was associated with a higher perceived likelihood. Findings indicated that prevention education programs based in schools and youth groups may be more effective than parents in teaching information about sexual abuse in a manner that emphasizes controllability, although it is not known whether such programs increase the tendency toward unrealistic optimism. Future program evaluations should include direct measures of fearfulness, controllability, and perceived risk and should include a control group of children whose prevention information comes entirely from parents so that more direct comparisons can be made. Finally, longitudinal research is needed that directly assesses the effect of prevention education on the experience of sexual abuse. Figure, tables, and 29 references (Author abstract modified)