Fidelity in school-based child sexual abuse prevention programs: A systematic review

The aim of this study was to systematically review and evaluate the quality of the school-based child sexual abuse prevention education research in terms of implementation fidelity. A comprehensive literature search in PsycINFO, Medline, Education Resource Information Centre (ERIC) and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was conducted. Articles included peer-reviewed, primary research studies related to the delivery of child sexual abuse prevention education programs within school settings published since 1996. In total, 3993 articles were identified and screened by two raters. Of those, 17 articles met the inclusion criteria. Implementation fidelity quality was assessed across the domains of: Intervention Design, Training Providers, Intervention Delivery, Intervention Receipt and Enactment of Skills, using the National Institute of Health Behavioral Change Consortium (NIHBCC) Fidelity Checklist. No study was identified as achieving high fidelity. Five studies (29%) reported including measures or processes to monitor implementation fidelity. There is an opportunity to improve the reporting of implementation fidelity related information within the school-based child sexual abuse prevention literature. This will allow more meaningful interpretations of treatment effects and increase confidence that changes attributed to the intervention are due to the intervention itself. Recommendations for such improvements are provided.