Mother–Child Communication about Sexual Abuse Prevention

Abstract

Two hundred and twelve Australian mothers completed an online survey examining features of mother–child communication about child sexual abuse prevention. Two-thirds (67.5%) of respondents had discussed child sexual abuse prevention with their children, with proportions varying according to age range (highest for mothers with children aged 5–12 years) and only-child status (lowest for mothers of only children). The number of topics discussed with their children differed according to child gender (greater number of topics discussed by mothers with both girls and boys) and age range (greater number of topics discussed by mothers with children aged 5–12 years). These findings provide new insights into mother–child communication about child sexual abuse prevention.

Keywords:

• parents
• child safety
• parent–child communication
• sex education
• sexuality education
• sexual socialization

Acknowledgments

The survey data in this paper were collected as part of The Paperbark Project, a research project funded by the Fred P. Archer Trust administered by The Trust Company, a leading Australian financial services group administering over 300 charitable trusts. The first author was supported by a Queensland University of Technology Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellowship (2010–2012). We would also like to thank Pete Hawkes, senior consultant, Australian Survey Research, for work on data analysis.

Notes

¹ The NCANDS aggregates and publishes notification and substantiation data from state child protection authorities in the United States.

² The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) is an Australian Government agency generating statistical information on the annual incidence of child abuse and neglect from state and territory child protection notification and substantiation data. For example, in the 12-month period from mid-2009 to mid-2010, 4,155 Australian children aged 0–18 years were the subject of a substantiated notification for child sexual abuse (AIHW, 2011), equivalent to approximately 0.1% of Australian children. Previous years' figures were: 3,735 (2008–2009), 3,511 (2007–2008), 3,453 (2006–2007), 3,660 (2005–2006), 3,574 (2004–2005), 4,386 (2003–2004), 2,208 (2002–2003), 3,493 (2001–2002), 3,992 (2000–2001; see AIHW, 2011).

³ We are aware of forthcoming work by Babatsikos based on her comprehensive literature review (Babatsikos, 2010).

⁴ The Paperbark Project is so named after a particularly hardy species of Australian native trees, the paperbarks. Paperbark qualities hold particular resonances for people who have experienced child sexual abuse. The trees, like them, have been termed “survival heroes” because of their ability to thrive despite growing in inhospitable places.

⁵ It was not possible to calculate differences between those who viewed the survey as opposed to those who completed the survey as no data were collected from the view-only group.

⁶ Examples include Brisbane's Child, Brisbane Kids, Every Child, Kids on the Coast, My Child, Pakmag, Parent Talk, and Web Child.

⁷ The full list of references on which the survey was based included Briggs (1988); Burgess and Wurtele (1998); Campis, Prentice-Dunn, and Lyman (1989); Chen and Chen (2005); Chen et al. (2007); Deblinger et al. (2010); Elrod and Rubin, (1993); El-Shaieb and Wurtele (2009); Finkelhor (1984); Hébert et al. (2001); Pohl and Hazzard (1990); Tang and Yan (2004); Tutty (1993); Wurtele et al. (1992).

⁸ For example, in item 10 “even good parents who supervise their children may not be able to prevent their children from being sexually abused” the qualifier “good” was removed. In another item, “take pictures of their private parts” was changed to “take photos of … ” Pilot test participants strongly suggested the incorporation of a parent self-efficacy (or confidence) measure, which was added, and changes to terminology regarding educational qualifications.

⁹ Based on Cohen's (1988) criteria of 0.10 for small effect, 0.30 for medium effect, and 0.50 for large effect.