Content area
Abstract
This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Good Touches/Bad Touches (GT/BT) program developed by the Mental Health Association of Westchester County and designed to teach sexual abuse prevention skills to school age children. Fourth and fifth grade children ($N$ = 293) were randomly assigned to one of four groups; two experimental groups who received the prevention program (Groups 1,3), and two wait listed control groups (Groups 2,4). Measures included two pencil and paper questionnaires designed to assess children's knowledge of sexual abuse prevention concepts. The children's scores on the Sexual Abuse Knowledge Inventory (SAKI) and the Personal Safety Questionnaire (PSQ) were subjected to statistical analysis to determine the effectiveness of the GT/BT program in increasing their knowledge of prevention concepts. Results indicated that the GT/BT program was effective in increasing the knowledge base of the children with regard to sexual abuse prevention concepts. Furthermore, knowledge gained through exposure to the GT/BT program was maintained at a high level over three months. Finally, no significant pretesting effects were noted, resulting in similar scores for groups receiving both a pretest and a posttest measure. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of further prevention efforts, as well as alternate measurement techniques which may be useful in assessing the effectiveness of child sexual abuse prevention programs.
