Unpacking School-Based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs: A Realist Review
Date
2022
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Publisher
Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
Abstract
Existing efforts to understand school-based child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention programs mainly focus on the
effectiveness of these programs in increasing participants’ CSA knowledge and self-protective skills. There are currently no
reviews addressing the underpinning pathways leading to these outcomes. In order to increase our understanding about the
underpinning causal and contextual factors and inform the further development of school-based CSA prevention programs, a
realist review was conducted to synthesize existing evidence from a broad range of data. Methods: An iterative search of
electronic databases and grey literature was conducted, supplemented with citation tracking to locate relevant literature. For
quantitative evidence, we considered evaluation studies that focused on students aged 5–18 years, who were enrolled in
primary or secondary schools; for other types/formats of studies/documents, no population restrictions were applied. We
included school-based CSA prevention programs that focused on improving knowledge of CSA or self-protective skills.
Outcomes of interest included knowledge of CSA or self-protective skills. We did not apply methodological filters in terms of
the types of studies to be included. Thematic content analysis was conducted to synthesize data. Results: Sixty-two studies
were included. Five themes and five overarching Context-Strategy-Mechanism-Outcome configurations (CSMOs) that contributed to the success of school-based CSA interventions were identified, including tailoring programs to participants’ cognitive
developmental levels, repeated exposure of key concepts and skills, utilization of interactive delivery methods and positive
feedback, delivery of positive information and application of the ‘train-the-trainer’ model. Implications: Findings from this
realist review provide insights into the underlying program theory of school-based CSA prevention programs, which can aid in
the development and implementation of these programs in the future.
Description
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Keywords
International Resources, United Kingdom, prevention, school-based, school-based interventions, child sexual abuse
Citation
Lu, M., Barlow, J., Meinck, F., & Neelakantan, L. (2022). Unpacking School-Based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs: A Realist Review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15248380221082153.