Adult Responsibility Project Empirical Basis and Evaluation Results

Prevent Child Abuse Vermont has developed empirically-informed training for adults on prevention topics. Each training is trauma-informed, promotes protective factors that are indicated by research, and engages adult responsibility to protect children. Attendees show increased knowledge about child sexual abuse and preventative factors and improved skills to respond to keep children safe from this type of trauma. All of our participants have the opportunity to evaluate the training. The results of these evaluations show statistically significant improvement.

Widespread Usage

The Adult Responsibility Project consists of 9 unique, interactive, live trainings for adult audiences.

Click any topic below to jump to the evaluation results or scroll through to see all results.

Topics:

Everything Everyone Needs to Know to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

TECHNICOOL: Keeping Kids Safe on the Internet

Overcoming Barriers to Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse

Nurturing Healthy Sexual Development

Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behavior of Children

Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behaviors of Adolescents

Brain Development and Learning Consent During Childhood

Nurturing, Valuing, and Protecting LGBTQIA+ Youth

Nurturing and Safe Environments for Children with Disabilities

Everything Everyone Needs to Know to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

Adults have misconceptions about grooming and child sexual abuse, but knowledge of the risks and protective factors can be improved through training (Oates, et al., 2000; Craven et al., 2007). Adults can learn best practices for nurturing and monitoring children to prevent child sexual abuse (Kenney and Wurtele, 2013). Additionally, attendees learn to spot grooming and intervene to prevent trauma to children (Trew et al., 2021).

Description of the Training

This interactive, 2-hour training covers essential information for all adults to be better prepared to protect children from sexual abuse.  Adults who are parents, caregivers, teachers, and other professionals want children to have abuse-free childhoods.  This training is an important step! As a participant, you will: a) learn interactive tools that work to keep children safe from sexual abuse b) learn what grooming is and ways to respond to protect children c) discover how to talk to children at different developmental stages about healthy behaviors d) determine how to respond to incidents of potential child sexual abuse (including understanding the mandated reporter expectations in your state). Through talking about child sexual abuse and how it happens, you will develop skills to recognize and respond to concerning situations. This training is particularly designed for adults caring for infants up to children age 14, after-school professionals, educators, social workers, mentors, coaches, parents, caregivers, grandparents, and foster parents.

Evaluation Results

N=120 Respondents completed the evaluation between February 2021 and July 2021

Paired T-test: t= 15.615; df = 119 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 12.857; df = 119 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 16.327; df = 119 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 9.551; df = 119 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 11.512; df = 119 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 7.156; df = 119 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Here are a few comments from participants:

“I learned new information and am now better equipped. Thank you. It was a good class.”

“This class gave me a lot of information on the subject of child sexual abuse that I feel may be very helpful in the future.”

“Thank you for giving me more tools and resources in this area.”

TECHNICOOL: Keeping Kids Safe on the Internet

Adults may know less about the digital environment than their children due to rapid technology advances recently. They may have common misconceptions about the digital risks currently (Craven et al., 2007). This training provides empirically supported knowledge about digital risks and skills to have productive conversations with children of all ages about online grooming, use of digital communication by in person groomers (as an isolation tactic), online pornography, and children’s harmful digital behaviors (such as sexting) (Blakemore and Robbins, 2012; Rothman and Mitchell, 2019; Salter, 2013).  

Description of the Training 

There are multiple kinds of digital risks for children today, such as internet pornography, online groomers, and sexting. It is important for caregivers, teachers, and other concerned adults to have the information and tools to respond. Participants in this 2-hour interactive workshop will: a) learn the digital risks for children and strategize ways to keep children and youth safe in digital environments and b) learn effective strategies for dealing with children exhibiting concerning digital behaviors. Please join us to learn how to support youth in digital environments! This training is useful for infant through after-school teachers, educators, social workers, volunteers for children, mentors, coaches, professionals in many fields, parents, caregivers, grandparents, and foster parents.

Evaluation Results

N = 249 Respondents completed the evaluation between April 2020 and July 2021

Paired T-test: t= 21.983; df = 248 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 20.498; df = 248 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 19.767; df = 248 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 10.027; df = 248 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 13.237; df = 248 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 13.802 ; df = 248 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Here are a few comments from participants:

“Thank you, I did get some good information that I feel will be very useful in my work with children and parents. With Covid everything is virtual and parents need to be aware of the dangers.”

“I’m excited to share this information with my colleagues both in after school but fellow school based clinicians.”

“I want to say thank you for such a helpful training. This is a difficult topic and it's not always easy to have conversations surrounding this topic. I appreciate all the helpful tips and resources.”

Overcoming Barriers to Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse

Adults have misconceptions about grooming prior to child sexual abuse, but knowledge of the risks and protective factors can be improved through training (Oates, et al., 2000; Alaggia, 2010). Adults can learn about ways to guide other adults to respect boundaries with children (Craven et al., 2007).

Description of the Training

This interactive, 2-hour training covers essential information for all adults to be better prepared to recognize boundary violating behaviors and grooming to protect children from sexual abuse. Participants will: a) distinguish healthy behaviors from boundary violations and pre-offending behaviors; and b) practice directly addressing concerning behaviors. Individuals and communities have a strong desire to prevent child sexual abuse. However, they often face barriers to protecting children, including having relationships with those exhibiting concerning behaviors. In this workshop participants will consider what adults can do to assist communities in overcoming these common barriers to protecting children to create safe spaces through a trauma-informed lens. This training is useful for infant through after-school teachers, educators, social workers, volunteers for children, mentors, coaches, professionals in many fields, parents, caregivers, grandparents, and foster parents.

Evaluation Results

N = 231 Respondents completed the evaluation between April 2020 and July 2021

Paired T-test: t= 21.539 ; df = 164 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 18.728 ; df = 165 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 22.592 ; df = 230 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 12.200 ; df = 230 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 16.520 ; df = 230 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 10.775 ; df = 230 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Here are a few comments from participants:

“I have had several trainings about sexual abuse prevention over the years, that I almost didn’t attend tonight’s training. But I am so thankful I did. This training was excellent. I have never attended one that gave scenarios to practice and how to communicate boundary crossing respectfully without assumptions and damaging relationships.”

“The training has developed my confidence in dealing with this subject in my setting and given me an interest to further develop my learning in this area.”

Nurturing Healthy Sexual Development

Promoción del desarrollo sexual saludable *

Adults often feel discomfort speaking with children about sexual development, though children want conversations about it (Goldfarb et al., 2018).  Also, some adults may not know the developmentally expected sexual behaviors of children or how to respond.  This training provides adults with this knowledge and also practical skills indicated in research to decrease the development of harmful sexual behaviors during childhood and decrease risk of child sexual abuse (Cale et al., 2016; Finkelhor, 2014).

Description of the Training

This 2-hour long interactive training helps adults gain information and skills to develop and maintain open communication with children, identify and respond to normal as well as concerning sexual behaviors in children, answer children's questions, and give children positive messages. Nurturing healthy sexual development plays an important role in protecting children from sexual abuse and/or developing sexually abusive behaviors. Participants will: a) summarize healthy sexual development in children at different developmental stages; and b) give examples of how to nurture healthy sexual development in children. This training is useful for infant through after-school teachers, educators, social workers, volunteers for children, mentors, coaches, professionals in many fields, parents, caregivers, grandparents, and foster parents.

*Materials now available in Spanish

Evaluation Results

N = 239 Respondents completed the evaluation between April 2020 and July 2021

Paired T-test: t= 20.090 ; df = 238 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 22.840 ; df = 238 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 21.475 ; df = 238 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 15.747 ; df = 238 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 8.026 ; df = 238 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Paired T-test: t= 13.764 ; df = 238 p = .000 (Statistically Significant Improvement)

Here are few comments from participants:

“I liked how responsive the presenter was to questions and really felt supported as an LGBTQ individual.”

“I enjoyed that the training was very engaging and provided room for discussion and questions. I also enjoyed the end where examples of questions children might ask were brought up, so we could discuss ways to answer them.”

“This was a great training. I appreciated all of the additional insights about healthy sexual behavior in children and the questions and prompts I can use when speaking about it with children and parents.”

Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behaviors of Children

Cómo entender y responder a las conductas sexuales de los niños *

Some adults feel uncertain of how to promote healthy sexual development in pre-pubescent children (Goldfarb et al., 2018).  Even adults who are adept at this, may be uncomfortable addressing children who have concerning sexual behaviors.  Trained adults can better guide children to healthy sexual behaviors, and this protects children from sexual abuse (Cale et al., 2016; Finkelhor, 2014).  

Description of the Training

This is an interactive, 2-hour training. Adults want children to grow up with healthy relationship skills. Learning to respect others’ feelings about touch is called empathy-based consent. Brain science findings show that the optimal window for children to learn empathy skills occurs early in life. Raising children who can empathize, and honor others’ wishes about consent will build protective factors to prevent child sexual abuse. In this training you will: a) understand the skills involved in respecting consent b) learn the developmental connections between childhood empathy and adult actions c) learn brain science findings on empathy and the optimal developmental window to acquire it d) learn about primary prevention strategies beginning in early childhood to prevent child sexual abuse and perpetration. You will receive practical steps you can take to teach children empathy-based consent. This training is for professionals who work with at-risk youth, such as residential care staff, therapeutic foster parents, counselors, social workers, educators, early childhood educators, after school staff, and mentors.  The information can also be useful for parents, grandparents, and foster parents.

*Materials now available in Spanish

EVALUATION RESULTS

N = 137 Respondents completed the evaluation between August 30, 2021 and February 23, 2023

Here are a few comments from participants:

“I loved the allowance of discussion. It's helpful being able to ask questions and discuss different aspects to this topic. Especially with this topic since majority of people assume any sexual behavior is essentially bad, but that's not the case.”

“Very powerful work and so needed. I feel as though some graduate programs don't do a thorough job of preparing students on topics such as this.”

“I really appreciated the specific and explicit responses to the different levels of behaviors. Our facilitator was very receptive, engaging, and knowledgeable.”

Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behaviors of adolescents

Cómo entender y responder a las conductas sexuales de los adolescentes *

Adolescents with adults in their lives who are comfortable talking about sexuality have safer sexual behaviors (Widman, et al., 2016). When risk factors for the development of harmful sexual behaviors are present, adults can counter-balance by promoting protective factors (Lundgren and Amin, 2015). Youth with this kind of support are less likely to engage in risky or harmful sexual behaviors. (Widman, et al., 2016; Lundgren and Amin, 2015).

Description of the Training

Adults can do much to promote healthy sexual development in adolescents.  In this 2-hour training you will learn to: a) be able to distinguish between expected, problematic, and abusive behaviors of adolescents b) know the risk factors and protective factors associated with harmful sexual behaviors in adolescents c) be prepared to respond to prevent harmful sexual behaviors in adolescents and to be proactive when these behaviors are observed. You will develop the skills to keep children safe from youth with problematic behaviors and to promote healthy development in all youth. This training is for professionals who work with at-risk youth, such as residential care staff, therapeutic foster parents, counselors, social workers, educators, early childhood educators, after school staff, and mentors.  The information can also be useful for parents, grandparents, and foster parents.

*Materials now available in Spanish

EVALUATION RESULTS

N = 78 Respondents completed the evaluation between August 19, 2021 and February 23, 2023.

Here are a few comments from participants:

“It was helpful during the training when an example of a behavior was given. We could then discuss how concerning it was and how we might handle the situation.”

“It was a great session. I deal with these behaviors a lot and I feel more educated in as to why this may be happening, and because of that, I feel I can handle situations like the ones we talked about with a better understanding.

“I enjoyed the training. It gave a lot of great information, and I was happy we had to participate instead of someone just talking to us.”

Brain Development and Learning Consent during Childhood

Research indicates that young adults have confusion about what consent means in relationships (Gruber, 2016). Though parents and other concerned adults may recognize their role in teaching young people how to have healthy relationships, they may not know when is the best time to approach the topic. Brain science has provided insights into how empathy skills, a component of sensitivity to respecting others’ boundaries, develop. Early childhood is the optimal brain developmental window for teaching empathy (Pfeifer et al., 2008). Using empathy as a lens, children can learn early to respect others’ wishes about touch. Researchers found that preschoolers with empathy grew into adults with better relationship skills (Eisenberg, 2002).

Description of the Training

Adults want children to grow up with healthy relationship skills. Learning to respect others’ feelings about touch is called empathy-based consent. Brain science findings show that the optimal window for children to learn empathy skills occurs early in life. Raising children who can empathize, and honor others’ wishes about consent will build protective factors to prevent child sexual abuse. In this training you will: a) understand the skills involved in respecting consent b) learn the developmental connections between childhood empathy and adult actions c) learn brain science findings on empathy and the optimal developmental window to acquire it d) learn about primary prevention strategies beginning in early childhood to prevent child sexual abuse and perpetration. You will receive practical steps you can take to teach children empathy-based consent. This training is for professionals who work with at-risk youth, such as residential care staff, therapeutic foster parents, counselors, social workers, educators, early childhood educators, after school staff, and mentors. The information can also be useful for parents, grandparents, and foster parents.

EVALUATION RESULTS

N = 169 Respondents completed the evaluation between January 12, 2022 and June 7, 2022.

Here are a few comments from participants:

“This training made me realize a lot that I should be teaching in my own children as well as my daycare children. I haven't been to a training in a while that's really opened my eyes.”

“This was great and informative helping finding and highlighting teachable moments as they happen so much more often than realizing! I work with 3 year olds and younger and having ideas to bring to parents to help set foundations before Pre-K would be so helpful.”

“Very good training. I think teaching children about consent is relevant and important and should be discussed more often. In general, topics of sexuality, child sexual prevention, and teaching children their own boundaries should be normalized among all fields and for parents/ caregivers as well.”

Nurturing, Valuing, and Protecting LBGTQIA+ Youth

Some groups of children are more at risk of child sexual abuse and sexual violence than others.  Sexual minority youth experience this kind of trauma at significantly higher rates than their peers (Friedman, et al., 2011; Thoma, et al., 2021). Adults may not be prepared to create safe environments for youth who identify as LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer / questioning, intersex, asexual) to grow up in (Mills‐Koonce, Rehder, and McCurdy, 2018). Training on the topic can help adults recognize risks and develop supportive, protective relationships (Stargell, et al., 2020).

Description of the Training

This interactive training discusses the basics of sexuality and trends in data relating to youth of the lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual community. While learning about the acronym “LGBTQIA+” participants discuss the importance of nurturing the discovery and exploration of gender identity. After reviewing current statistics relating to child sexual abuse and the specifics of the impact on LGBTQIA+ youth, participants will then critically think about what is increasing the risk for this population. The session, while examining what it means to be inclusive, also discusses current methods of prevention that youth-serving organizations and all adults who care can take. This training is for professionals who work with at-risk youth, such as residential care staff, therapeutic foster parents, counselors, social workers, educators, early childhood educators, after school staff, and mentors. The information can also be useful for parents, grandparents, and foster parents.

Evaluation Results

N=159 Respondents completed the evaluation between March 2, 2022 and February 23, 2023.

Here are a few comments from participants:

“This really was a great training. I felt the pace was great. I loved the scenario.”

“This was a top-notch training. Appreciated the clear and colorful slides and facilitation of the content. Good opportunities for group participation also. So appreciated learning more about the connection between LGBTQIA+ youth and higher incidences of sexual abuse. I represent a domestic and sexual violence crisis and support center, and this was a really timely training for us to receive-thank you.”

“Thank you for this incredibly important work!”

nURTURING AND sAFE ENVIRONMENTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

Some groups of children are more at risk of child sexual abuse than others. Research indicates that children with disabilities are sexually abused at 3 times the rate of their peers (CDC, 2022). Caring adults who live and work with children with disabilties may not know the factors that contribute to this increased risk and the protective factors that can be implemented to address this. Training is essential to reducing the prevalence of sexual abuse of children with disabilities (Skarbek, et al., 2009).

Description of the Training

Children with disabilities are at a higher risk of child sexual abuse than their peers, but prevention is possible! Parents and professionals alike want to create safe environments for this important group of children. During this 2-hour long interactive live training, participants will: a) understand the higher prevalence of child sexual abuse among children with disabilities b) learn the specific challenges that these children experience that may raise risk c) strategize organizational policies and practices as well as family norms that will better protect this vulnerable group of children. Please join us to learn how to keep children with disabilities safe at school, at home, in youth serving organizations, in residential settings, and in the neighborhood. This training is useful for educators, special education teachers, paraprofessionals, social workers, health care professionals, home health providers, residential care staff, mentors, volunteers for children, coaches, parents, caregivers, grandparents, and foster parents.

Evaluation Results

N=47 Respondents completed the evaluation between November 29, 2022 and February 23, 2023

Here are a few comments from participants:

“I feel this training made think a little further into the different levels and conditions of each student and the protections I need to be aware of on their level.”

“Very important topic. Thank you for creating this new training focusing more explicitly on children with disabilities.”

References

Alaggia, R. (2010). An ecological analysis of child sexual abuse disclosure: Considerations for child and adolescent mental health. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 19(1), 32.

Blakemore, S. J., & Robbins, T. W. (2012). Decision-making in the adolescent brain. Nature neuroscience, 15(9), 1184.

Cale, J., Smallbone, S., Rayment-McHugh, S., & Dowling, C. (2016). Offense trajectories, the unfolding of sexual and non-sexual criminal activity, and sex offense characteristics of adolescent sex offenders. Sexual Abuse, 28(8), 791-812.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preventing Child Sexual Abuse, Retrieved July 6, 2022 from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/childsexualabuse.html

Craven, S., Brown, S., & Gilchrist, E. (2007). Current responses to sexual grooming: Implication for prevention. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 46(1), 60-71.

Eisenberg, N., Guthrie, I. K., Cumberland, A., Murphy, B. C., Shepard, S. A., Zhou, Q., & Carlo, G. (2002). Prosocial development in early adulthood: a longitudinal study. Journal of personality and social psychology, 82(6), 993.

Finkelhor, D., Shattuck, A., Turner, H. A., & Hamby, S. L. (2014). The lifetime prevalence of child sexual abuse and sexual assault assessed in late adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 55(3), 329-333.

Friedman, M. S., Marshal, M. P., Guadamuz, T. E., Wei, C., Wong, C. F., Saewyc, E. M., & Stall, R. (2011). A meta-analysis of disparities in childhood sexual abuse, parental physical abuse, and peer victimization among sexual minority and sexual nonminority individuals. American journal of public health, 101(8), 1481-1494.

Goldfarb, E., Lieberman, L., Kwiatkowski, S., & Santos, P. (2018). Silence and censure: A qualitative analysis of young adults’ reflections on communication with parents prior to first sex. Journal of Family Issues, 39(1), 28-54.

Gruber, A. (2016). Consent confusion. Cardozo L. Rev., 38, 415.

Guastaferro, K., Zadzora, K. M., Reader, J. M., Shanley, J., & Noll, J. G. (2019). A parent-focused child sexual abuse prevention program: Development, acceptability, and feasibility. Journal of child and family studies, 28(7), 1862-1877.

Kenny, M. C., & Wurtele, S. K. (2013). Toward prevention of childhood sexual abuse: preschoolers’ knowledge of genital body parts.

Lundgren, R., & Amin, A. (2015). Addressing intimate partner violence and sexual violence among adolescents: emerging evidence of effectiveness. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(1), S42-S50.

Mills‐Koonce, W. R., Rehder, P. D., & McCurdy, A. L. (2018). The significance of parenting and parent–child relationships for sexual and gender minority adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 28(3), 637-649.

Nurse, A. M. (2018). Coaches and child sexual abuse prevention training: Impact on knowledge, confidence, and behavior. Children and Youth Services Review, 88, 395-400.

Oates, R. K., Jones, D. P., Denson, D., Sirotnak, A., Gary, N., & Krugman, R. D. (2000). Erroneous concerns about child sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 24(1), 149-157.

Pfeifer, J. H., Iacoboni, M., Mazziotta, J. C., & Dapretto, M. (2008). Mirroring others' emotions relates to empathy and interpersonal competence in children. Neuroimage, 39(4), 2076-2085.

Rothman, E. F., & Mitchell, K. J. (2019). A trend analysis of US adolescents’ intentional pornography exposure on the internet, 2000–2010. Retrieved December, 4.

Salter, Michael (2013). "Beyond Criminalisation and Responsibilitisim Sexting, Gender and Young People". Sydney Law School. 24: 310–315.

Skarbek, D., Hahn, K., & Parrish, P. (2009). Stop sexual abuse in special education: An ecological model of prevention and intervention strategies for sexual abuse in special education. Sexuality and disability, 27, 155-164.

Stargell, N. A., Jones, S. J., Akers, W. P., & Parker, M. M. (2020). Training school teachers and administrators to support LGBTQ+ students: A quantitative analysis of change in beliefs and behaviors. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 14(2), 118-133.

Thoma, B. C., Rezeppa, T. L., Choukas-Bradley, S., Salk, R. H., & Marshal, M. P. (2021). Disparities in childhood abuse between transgender and cisgender adolescents. Pediatrics, 148(2).

Trew, S., Russell, D., Higgins, D., & Walsh, K. (2021). Effective delivery methods and teaching strategies for child sexual abuse prevention: a rapid evidence check.

Widman, L., Choukas-Bradley, S., Noar, S. M., Nesi, J., & Garrett, K. (2016). Parent-adolescent sexual communication and adolescent safer sex behavior: a meta-analysis. JAMA pediatrics, 170(1), 52-61.

Wurtele, S. K. (2018). University students’ perceptions of child sexual offenders: Impact of classroom instruction. Journal of child sexual abuse, 27(3), 276-291.

Recommended Citation:

Hambrick, M. (2023). Adult Responsibility Project Empirical Basis and Evaluation Results. Prevent Child Abuse Vermont. https://www.pcavt.org/adult-responsibility-project-empirical-basis