NCJ Number
220600
Journal
Child Maltreatment Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2007 Pages: 352-363
Date Published
November 2007
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study evaluated the effects of a media campaign intended to assist in preventing child sexual abuse (CSA).
Abstract
The findings show that the media campaign had a significant impact on short-term knowledge about child sexual abuse and on primary prevention responses to hypothetical vignettes related to child sexual abuse; however, there was no significant impact on attitudes related to child sexual abuse. The findings suggest that a media campaign that targets CSA prevention in a community is relatively inexpensive and can increase awareness and possibly primary prevention behaviors, at least over the short term; however, a media campaign alone many not be sufficient to significantly reduce CSA in a community. An examination of interventions that could be used to complement a media campaign would be useful. The media campaign assessed was sponsored by an organization called "Darkness to Light" (DTL), which is a nonprofit national organization whose primary goal is to educate communities about CSA, its consequences, and prevention measures. The evaluation recruited 200 parents who had children younger than 18 years old living in the home. Data collection was done at eight malls in eight cities where the campaign was conducted. Twenty-five people were interviewed at each site. Participants were exposed to four experimental conditions: video public announcements, an educational pamphlet, video public service announcements plus an education control condition, and no media exposure. Interviews used self-report measures of demographics; lifetime history of sexual assault and other forms of sexual abuse; knowledge and awareness of CSA; and behavioral responses to vignettes related to responses to situations in which primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of CSA would be desirable. 3 tables and 35 references