Child Abuse Prevention: A Challenge Accepted

The Pennsylvania State Education Association, in response to new laws regarding child abuse, has undertaken a project to acquaint educators and other school personnel with their responsibilities under the revised laws. The project has also sponsored establishing parenting courses or units of study in the home economics curricula of 250 of the state's 505 school districts. The project has revealed important lessons about success factors in education for the detection and prevention of child abuse. During its first two years the project has reached all 100,000 members of the PSEA with informative workshops and articles, and has presented the program “Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect” to 750 education majors.     

Overcoming Boundaries: A Cross-Cultural Inventory of Primary Prevention Programs Against Wife Abuse and Child Abuse

This paper reviews existing primary prevention programs against wife and child abuse in the USA, Canada and France. There are a large variety of primary prevention approaches to wife and child abuse, but no systematic overview of these programs exists. In addition, knowledge of intervention programs has been limited by language barriers. This paper looks beyond language differences to provide a fuller view of the spectrum of recent intervention programs. We present a qualitative overview of existing programs and discuss the similarities and differences among different intervention strategies     

Child Sexual Abuse: A Review

The sexual abuse of children is a significant problem in the United States. It is a traditionally touchy subject which has been hidden by cultural stereotypes and taboos. It is only in the last 10, and especially the last 5 years that the true scope and essence of child sexual abuse has begun to be understood. This article reviews the recent literature dealing with child sexual abuse and identifies the role health educators can play in combating this problem.     

Stop Sexual Abuse in Special Education: An Ecological Model of Prevention and Intervention Strategies for Sexual Abuse in Special Education

Children with disabilities are 3.4 times more likely to be sexually abused than their nondisabled peers. Moreover, the abuse will likely be committed by someone they know and trust such as a parent, sibling, teacher, day care provider, priest, or coach. Given this, it is critical that schools implement sexual abuse prevention and intervention programs for children with disabilities. Prevention and intervention programs based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model infused with the three categories of prevention: primary, secondary, and tertiary as espoused by the Centers for Disease Control is proposed.     

Child Abuse Prevention —Implementation Within the Curriculum

The number of reported cases of child abuse and neglect is increasing. Most educators are aware of the problem; however, awareness alone has minimal impact on prevention. Specific planning is needed, and this article explores various avenues for including child abuse education as a part of the regular school curriculum. The ultimate goal is to develop educational strategies as one means of preventing abuse when school children grow to adulthood and become parents.     

Knowledge Gains Following a Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program Among Urban Students: A Cluster-Randomized Evaluation

Objectives. We evaluated a school-based child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention program, Safe Touches, in a low–socioeconomic status, racially diverse sample.Methods. Participants were 492 second- and third-grade students at 6 public elementary schools in New York City. The study period spanned fall 2012 through summer 2014. We cluster-randomized classrooms to the Safe Touches intervention or control groups and assessed outcomes with the Children’s Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire. Hierarchical models tested change in children’s knowledge of inappropriate and appropriate touch.Results. The intervention group showed significantly greater improvement than the control group on knowledge of inappropriate touch. Children in second grade and children in schools with a greater proportion of students in general (vs special) education showed greater gains than other participants in knowledge of inappropriate touch. We observed no significant change in knowledge of appropriate touch among control or intervention groups.Conclusions. Young children benefited from a school-based, 1-time CSA prevention program. Future research should explore the efficacy of CSA prevention programs with children before the second grade to determine optimal age for participation.Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a public health problem of epidemic proportions worldwide.1 In the United States, approximately 1 in 10 children reports having experienced sexual victimization,2 and approximately 15% to 32% of women and 5% to 16% of men report being sexually abused as children.3–5 Among US children, the incidence rate of sexual abuse was 24% in 2009,6 and in 2012, 62 936 cases of CSA were substantiated nationwide.7 In addition, authorities suspect that large numbers go unreported.8More than 2 decades of research has linked CSA to negative outcomes, such as increased rates of pregnancy, promiscuity, depression, substance abuse, and identifiable permanent changes in brain structure and stress hormone function.8 CSA is significantly associated with failure to achieve the minimum qualifications to enter high school, graduate from high school, and attend and graduate from college, thus limiting lifetime income.9 Adult victims of CSA are at increased risk for sexual revictimization and high-risk sexual activity.10 CSA has been shown to affect mental health through adulthood, with reported evidence of low self-esteem, obesity, anxiety, depression, anger and aggression, posttraumatic stress, dissociation, substance abuse, sexual difficulties, sexually transmitted diseases, and self-injurious behavior.11–13CSA prevention efforts have largely consisted of school-based programs. Almost 90% of elementary school districts in the United States offer prevention training,14 and more than 85% conducted programs in the past year.15 About two thirds of American children have had some exposure to these programs. Despite the prevalence of these programs, there is a dearth of rigorous research evaluating their efficacy. Although most studies have been limited by a lack of randomization and control groups, the few randomized trials generally found increased knowledge of CSA prevention concepts in children who received interventions16–18; however, most studies included only White, middle-class children. An international meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and quasi-randomized controlled trials (in which participants were allocated to intervention or control groups by day of the week, alphabetical order, or other sequential allocation such as class or school) found that children who participated in a school-based CSA program were 7 times as likely to show self-protective behavior in simulated situations as children who did not attend a program.19 Overall, most studies did not adhere to the intent-to-treat principle, failed to account for nonindependence of students within classrooms, and used small samples that were racially homogeneous.We used the Children’s Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire (CKAQ)20 to rigorously evaluate the CSA prevention program Safe Touches: Personal Safety Training for Children in a lower-income multiracial population. We hypothesized that the intervention group would show significantly greater changes than the control group on the Inappropriate Touch Scale on the CKAQ from pretest to posttest. We built on previous research by using a large, racially and ethnically diverse, low–socioeconomic status urban sample in the context of a cluster-randomized design.     

Taking a School-Based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program to Scale: a Cost Analysis

Prevention Science - Cost analyses are used to determine overall costs of implementing evidence-based programming and may help decision makers determine how best to allocate finite resources. Child...     

Child Abuse: an ecological perspective

Open‐ended, divergent questions have been found to be important for children's cognitive and language development. However, there is a paucity of research concerning the types of questions that teachers ask in day care centers that serve primarily children from low‐income families. In this study, the types of teachers’ questions to 50 three‐year‐olds [25 boys and 25 girls] from low‐income families were analyzed. The total sample of 36‐42 month‐old children was observed in 10 day care centers. Each child was observed for 80 minutes across five typical day care settings. All of the “true” questions were coded as convergent or divergent, and the children's responses to these questions were analyzed. There were a total of 667 “true” questions asked during approximately 70 hours of observation. For both boys and girls, 88#pc of the questions were convergent and 12#pc divergent. The children were equally compliant to convergent and divergent questions. These day care children were overwhelmingly asked convergent questions [p #lt.001] by teachers. Three‐year‐olds are equally capable of answering divergent and convergent questions. These results indicate that teachers need training in how to ask more divergent questions to young children in order to enhance language and cognitive development.

     

Workplace Drug Abuse Prevention Initiatives: A Review

Likely key elements of effective prevention strategies emerging from the literature (and from discussions with experts) are summarized. These include: (1) program content based on proven prevention theory and research; (2) comprehensive approaches that address multiple risk and protective factors, and generalize across settings; (3) material that is relevant during important transitions in an employee's life and career (4) sensitivity to the culture of the workplace and community; (5) sufficient dosage and follow-up; (6) use of interactive teaching techniques; (7) training for prevention program providers; and (8) evaluation to know that the intervention had the desired effect on behavior. Evaluation of workplace substance abuse prevention has been limited; the need for future research is discussed. The paper concludes with a discussion of how to increase interest in substance abuse prevention by employers.     

Family-Based Drug Abuse Prevention Programs: A Review

Key elements of promising family-based drug abuse prevention strategies include: (1) program content based on proven prevention theory and research; (2) comprehensive approaches that begin early, extend across the life span, address multiple risk and protective factors, and generalize across settings; (3) developmentally appropriate material; (4) sensitivity to the culture and community; (5) sufficient dosage and follow-up; (6) use of interactive teaching techniques; (7) training for prevention program providers; and (8) evaluation to know that the intervention had the desired effect on behavior. In addition, an issue with major implications for prevention is how to reach the broadest possible audience or those who may most benefit from prevention services.     

Community-based Substance Abuse Prevention: A Multicultural Perspective

Communities represent complex organizational entities which frequently are comprised of varying racial, ethnic, and sociocultural subgroups. This diversity, which is often underestimated and at times overlooked, presents a formidable challenge to substance abuse prevention efforts. The different lifestyles exhibited by various subgroups within a community represent a range of target behaviors that must be addressed if community health promotion initiatives are to be effective. This paper describes the barriers to achieving the goals of community-based substance abuse prevention that can arise from failing to recognize socioculturally-defined subgroups. An intervention planning model, which addresses the barriers from the perspective of a communication-behavior change (CBC) theoretical framework, is presented.     

Working Sensitively with Child Sexual Abuse Survivors: What Female Child Sexual Abuse Survivors Want from Health Professionals

Adult survivors of child sexual abuse are high users of health and mental health services. Health professionals are well placed to improve health outcomes for them by delivering positive interventions post-abuse. The current study explored female child sexual abuse survivors' opinions on how health professionals could work better with child sexual abuse survivors. Sixty-one women, from 22–65 years old, who had been sexually abused before the age of 16 years, completed postal questionnaires in late 2004. A model was developed to guide the development of knowledge, skills, and practices for working more sensitively with child sexual abuse survivors. The model consisted of six chronological training steps: (1) knowledge on effects of child sexual abuse; (2) establishing the relationship with child sexual abuse survivors; (3) asking about child sexual abuse; (4) responding to disclosure; (5) sensitive provision of medical examinations; and (6) follow-up post examination. A systematic approach to training is proposed to assist with improving delivery of services sensitive to child sexual abuse survivor needs.     

慈利县联合国人口基金艾滋病防治项目执行情况终期评估

目的评估联合国人口基金支持慈利县艾滋病防治项目执行情况。方法收集已有项目管理、经费管理和日常工作资料,对行为资料进行现场问卷补充调查,用计算机分析获得的资料。结果项目县建立了协调领导机制,依托部门现有网络开展宣传和干预,性工作者、性病病人、大众人群、学生4类目标人群艾滋病预防知识水平显著提高,本地娱乐场所安全套使用率明显上升。结论项目县完成了预定目标,但应该考虑将项目与现有工作结合保证工作持续开展。