Sexual abuse prevention programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: A systematic review

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities, especially women, are particularly vulnerable to situations of sexual abuse. The aim of this review is to examine empirical studies on the effectiveness of sexual abuse prevention programs for this population. A systematic search on PsycINFO, Web of Science and Psicodoc identified ten published studies on the subject. The results obtained show that most prevention programs are based on the acquisition of behavioral abilities whereas others are based on sexual education. Although there are some data that demonstrate the effectiveness, particularly, of those programs based on abilities, the majority of studies do not provide robust evidence to judge the effectiveness of these interventions. The conclusions of the review are focused on the need to increase research about population with intellectual and developmental disabilities, especially women, and in the area of sexual abuse.