Parent-Focused Sexual Abuse Prevention: Results From a Cluster Randomized Trial.

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Public Health
• Social Work

Background:

• Child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention requires effective strategies for parents.
• Integrating specialized modules into existing parent training programs needs evaluation.
• Evidence-based parent training, such as Parents as Teachers (PAT), can be a platform for additional prevention modules.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and impact of adding the Smart Parents-Safe and Healthy Kids (SPSHK) module to the Parents as Teachers (PAT) program.
• To determine if the SPSHK module enhances child sexual abuse (CSA) awareness and protective behaviors.
• To evaluate whether the addition of SPSHK affects the efficacy of the original PAT program on general parenting behaviors.

Main Methods:

• A cluster randomized trial involving six community-based organizations.
• Randomization to either PAT with SPSHK (PAT+SPSHK) or PAT as usual (PAT-AU).
• Assessment of CSA awareness, protective behaviors, and general parenting at baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up using multilevel analyses.

Main Results:

• The PAT+SPSHK group demonstrated significantly greater awareness of CSA and increased use of protective behaviors compared to the PAT-AU group (p < .0001).
• These improvements in awareness and behaviors were maintained at the 1-month follow-up.
• No significant differences were found in general parenting behaviors, indicating no interference with the original PAT program's efficacy.

Conclusions:

• The SPSHK module can be effectively integrated into existing parent training programs like PAT.
• Adding SPSHK significantly enhances parents' knowledge and application of protective strategies against child sexual abuse.
• This integrated approach offers a promising strategy for selective prevention among at-risk populations within child welfare systems.