Development of the Trauma Research Institute Grooming Scale for Educational Settings (TRIGS-E)

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Forensic Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Sexual grooming, a precursor to sexual abuse, lacks a universally agreed-upon definition.
• Existing measures for sexual grooming often assess behaviors after abuse has occurred.
• A validated forensic tool is needed to proactively identify grooming behaviors, particularly in educational settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an initial stage of the Trauma Research Institute Grooming Scale (TRIGS) for assessing sexual grooming.
• To investigate the categorization of grooming behaviors within the educational context.
• To differentiate between grooming behaviors and those potentially exhibited by well-intentioned individuals.

Main Methods:

• Surveyed 99 psychologists and educational professionals.
• Developed and tested items for the Trauma Research Institute Grooming Scale (TRIGS).
• Analyzed responses to identify distinct subcategories of grooming behavior.

Main Results:

• Confirmed two subcategories of grooming behavior: Desensitization (DS) and Relationship Enhancement (RE).
• Desensitization (DS) behaviors were consistently identified as clear indicators of grooming and reportable 'red flags'.
• Relationship Enhancement (RE) behaviors showed less consensus among professionals regarding their problematic nature and reportability.

Conclusions:

• The findings support the existence of two distinct categories of sexual grooming behaviors.
• The initial development of TRIGS shows promise for improving the detection and prevention of sexual grooming in schools.
• Further research and validation of TRIGS are warranted for clinical and forensic applications.