Randomized controlled trial of the Child Protection Unit: Grade and gender as moderators of CSA prevention concepts in elementary students

Background. Despite the importance of child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention, there are few recent randomized controlled trials of school-based CSA prevention programs. Objectives: (1) To evaluate the effects of the Second Step Child Protection Unit (CPU) on students' CSA prevention concept knowledge, ability to recognize, report, and refuse unsafe touches, and perceptions of teacher-student relations and (2) investigate the moderating role of age and gender on program effectiveness. Participants and setting: Eight elementary schools in a large suburban school district in the northeast United States were randomly assigned to the intervention or control condition, with analyses conducted on a total of 2172 students. Methods: Students in intervention schools received the 6-week CPU and those in the control schools were exposed to business as usual. Students were administered assessments at baseline and then at post-test. Results: Univariate Analyses of Covariance revealed that students in the intervention schools had significantly higher scores on all outcomes than students in the control schools at post-test, even after controlling for baseline scores. Children in younger grades made greater gains from the program, and girls scored higher than boys in CSA knowledge and ability to recognize, refuse, and report unsafe touches, but both boys and girls made significant gains. Conclusions: Results support the importance of beginning early with school-based CSA prevention efforts. Although boys are still at a relative disadvantage in terms of their knowledge and ability in this area, they are able to make gains at the same rate as girls.