Efficacy of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Messages in the Florida Winds of Change Campaign

Abstract

Public awareness campaigns have been included in universal, communitywide, and programmatic approaches aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect. More evaluation of campaign effects is needed to identify their place on the continuum of evidence-based programs. This article reports on an efficacy study of the Florida Winds of Change campaign using a randomized experimental design. Investigators conducted an online survey of a web-based panel of Florida residents with children 18 years of age or younger living in the home. Six outcomes were measured at baseline and a 30-day follow-up. Three outcomes referred to knowledge of child development, child disciplinary techniques, and community resources for parents. Prevention attitudes or beliefs, motivation, and action were also assessed. Respondents were exposed to three public service announcements and a selection of parent resource material. Logistic regression models revealed that exposure to campaign messages was associated with significant increases in all but one of the campaign outcomes.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant (93.590) through a contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families (Contract # LJ720).

The authors acknowledge the research assistance of Samantha Marcus, a master of social work intern at the School of Social Work at Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, in the conduct of this study.

Notes

Note. See Table 3 for descriptions of the 21 outcome measures.

Note. All models included baseline and 30-day follow-up study respondents who did not respond in the strongest desired category at baseline. All models control for gender, number of children, age of respondent, Latino, and exposure to at least one public service announcement before baseline. Odds ratios are e^B.

*p < .10. **p < .05. ***p < .01.

Note. The outcome measures in this table are paraphrased. Odds ratio are e^B.