Efficacy of a Sexual Abuse Prevention Program with Children on an Indian Reservation

ABSTRACT

American Indian youth experience high rates of child sexual abuse (CSA). To date, however, we are aware of no programs that have assessed outcomes associated with an evidence-based CSA prevention program among American Indian children. The purpose of the proposed study was to assess the preliminary acceptability and efficacy of IMpower, a 12-hour curriculum that teaches children how to identify their anatomy, recognize risk, say “no,” and tell others if they are being hurt. Using a non-randomized, single-arm pilot trial methodology (N = 48 4th and 5th graders), we found that some domains of children’s knowledge of CSA as well as their efficacy to resist an attack increased from pre- to posttest. Moreover, 83% of children reported that they liked IMpower, and 96% of children reported that IMpower helped keep them safe. These data provide preliminary evidence that IMpower is an acceptable and effective CSA prevention initiative that requires further evaluation with American Indian children.

KEYWORDS:

• Child sexual abuse
• prevention
• self-defense
• American Indian
• Native American

Acknowledgments

We owe a great deal of gratitude to our school and community partners and project staff, including Lee Paiva, Linda Garriot, Janet Routzen, Nicole Collins, Sunrise Black Bull, Kathy Her Many Horses, Lindsey Compton, Skyler Hopfauf, and Briana Simon. Without these individuals, this project would not have been possible.

Disclosure of Interest

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethical Standards and Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation [institutional and national] and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katie M. Edwards

Katie M. Edwards, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools (CYFS) at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln (UNL). Dr. Edwards is also the direction of the Interpersonal Violence Research Laboratory (IVRL) at UNL.

Laura Siller

Laura Siller, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral scholar at UNL in CYFS and the IVRL.

Leon Leader Charge

Leon Leader Charge, M.A. is the Tribal Technical Assistance Coordinator at Tribal Tech LLC.

Simone Bordeaux

Simone Bordeaux, Health Systems Specialist, Indian Health Service.

Damon Leader Charge

Damon P. Leader Charge, M.A., Program Coordinator, Native American Healthcare Scholars Program, University of South Dakota.

Ramon Herrington

Ramona Herrington is a Cultural Outreach Manager at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln.