Abstract
Introduction
Child sexual abuse is a widespread type of abuse that has extremely negative effects on victims, both in the short and long term. Parents can play a key role in preventing sexual abuse, provided that they are aware of the risk and pass on this information appropriately to their children. This study evaluates the prior knowledge of a group of parents and the changes that were made after taking part in a training program on the prevention of child sexual abuse.
Methods
The sample was 252 parents (8- to 12-year-old children), were evaluated before and after taking part in a training program on sexual abuse, in 2020. The parents completed a questionnaire including items for assessing knowledge on child sexual abuse, parent–child communication about this topic and responses to a possible disclosure of abuse.
Results
Parents showed in the prior evaluation a significant lack of knowledge of child sexual abuse and scarce skills to detect and accept it. After taking part in the program, parents significantly improved their knowledge about this risk and their perceived ability to cope.
Conclusions
The low level of knowledge of the parents on this subject and the number of inaccurate beliefs reveal the need to include them in sexual abuse prevention programs.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design, material preparation, data collection and analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Amaia Del Campo, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of University of Salamanca, Spain.
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Del Campo, A., Fávero, M. & Sousa-Gomes, V. The Role of Parents in Preventing Child Sexual Abuse: Evaluation of Previous Knowledge and the Results of a Training Program. Sex Res Soc Policy 20, 208–215 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00697-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00697-9