The DOI matches its Crossref record; 14 of the 16 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The effectiveness of victimization prevention instruction: An evaluation of children's responses to actual threats and assaults
Abstract
This study examined whether instruction in school and at home about how to prevent victimization has any impact on children's behavior in situations of real victimization threat. Telephone interviews were conducted in 1992 with a nationally representative sample of 2,000 youths age 10 to 16 and their caretakers. More comprehensive school programs had mixed, small but overall positive effects. Children exposed to such school-based prevention programs performed better on a short test of knowledge about sexual victimization; when victimized or threatened were more likely to use the self-protection strategies recommended by prevention educators; were more likely to feel that they had been successful in protecting themselves; and were more likely to disclose to someone about the victimization attempts. They were not better able to limit the seriousness of the assaults and, in fact, they experienced more injuries in the course of sexual assaults. Comprehensive parental instruction also had positive effects on knowledge, the use of preferred self-protection strategies and the likelihood of disclosure. Children with comprehensive parental instruction were more likely to limit the seriousness of assaults.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“These findings offer evidence that child-focused prevention education may increase CSA disclosures and are consistent with the few studies to find that receipt of CSA prevention education is associated with more disclosures (Finkelhor et al., 1995; Gibson & Leitenberg, 2000; Oldfield et al., 1996).”
From Child abuse prevention education policies increase reports of child sexual abuse (2022) · cites this paper as Finkelhor et al., 1995
In the citing paper
“Youth who participated in prevention education were more likely to disclose their victimization than youth who did not participate in prevention education.”
From Child abuse prevention education policies increase reports of child sexual abuse (2022) · cites this paper as Finkelhor et al., 1995
In the citing paper
“Participants who received comprehensive PLSAE had more knowledge, used more self-protection strategies, and were more likely to disclose sexual victimization, however they were not able to prevent sexual assaults.”
From Recall of sexual abuse prevention education at school and home: Associations with sexual abuse experience, disclosure, protective parenting, and knowledge (2022) · cites this paper as Finkelhor et al., 1995
In the citing paper
“found 57% of participants had received CSA information from their parents and 36% reported comprehensive education from their parents.”
From Recall of sexual abuse prevention education at school and home: Associations with sexual abuse experience, disclosure, protective parenting, and knowledge (2022) · cites this paper as Finkelhor et al., 1995
In the citing paper
“To the best of our knowledge, only one previous study has assessed PLSAE and subsequent sexual victimization.”
From Recall of sexual abuse prevention education at school and home: Associations with sexual abuse experience, disclosure, protective parenting, and knowledge (2022) · cites this paper as Finkelhor et al., 1995
In the citing paper
“This rate is considerably higher than the PLSAE reported by the young people in the Finkelhor et al., (1995) study.”
From Recall of sexual abuse prevention education at school and home: Associations with sexual abuse experience, disclosure, protective parenting, and knowledge (2022) · cites this paper as Finkelhor et al., (1995)
In the citing paper
“Only one previous study has examined the relationship between PLSAE and CSA experience (Finkelhor et al., 1995).”
From Recall of sexual abuse prevention education at school and home: Associations with sexual abuse experience, disclosure, protective parenting, and knowledge (2022) · cites this paper as Finkelhor et al., 1995
In the citing paper
“The evidence for PLSAE is more mixed with methodological improvements needed, which prevents clear conclusions in some studies (Cırık et al., 2019; Finkelhor et al., 1995; Jin et al., 2017, 2019; Pandia et al., 2017; Wurtele et al., 1992).”
From Recall of sexual abuse prevention education at school and home: Associations with sexual abuse experience, disclosure, protective parenting, and knowledge (2022) · cites this paper as Finkelhor et al., 1995
Citations
Cites
Presser, S., Groves, R. M., Biemer, P. P., Lyberg, L. E., Massey, J. T., Nicholls, W. L., & Waksberg, J. (1990) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2072660 · Cited by 553
Children as Victims of Violence: A National Survey
Finkelhor, D., & Dziuba-Leatherman, J. (1994) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.94.4.413 · Cited by 411
Self-citationPersonal versus telephone surveys for collecting household health data at the local level.
Weeks, M. F., Kulka, R. A., Lessler, J. T., & Whitmore, R. W. (1983) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.73.12.1389 · Cited by 184
The Impact of Curriculum-based Suicide Prevention Programs for Teenagers
Shaffer, D., GARLAND, A., VIELAND, V., Underwood, M., & BUSNER, C. (1991) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/00004583-199107000-00010 · Cited by 161
Measuring actual reduction of risk to child abuse: A new approach
Fryer, G. E., Kraizer, S. K., & Mlyoshi, T. (1987) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/0145-2134(87)90055-x · Cited by 104
Prevention of child sexual abuse: Myth or reality.
Reppucci, N. D., & Haugaard, J. J. (1989) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.44.10.1266 · Cited by 94
Preventing Child Sexual Abuse: Sharing the Responsibility
Schwartz, M. D., Wurtele, S. K., & Miller‐Perrin, C. (1993) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.2307/352828 · Cited by 87
Bermack, E. (1989) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.2466/pr0.1989.65.1.259 · Cited by 56
Asking Sensitive Behavioral Questions in Telephone Interviews
Czaja, R. (1987) · International Quarterly of Community Health Education · doi:10.2190/xt6w-31cx-td87-e643 · Cited by 51
A Comparison of Three Interviewing Approaches for Studying Sensitive Topics with Hispanics
Marín, G., & Marín, B. V. (1989) · Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1177/07399863890114003 · Cited by 47
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Bajos, 1992, Analysis of sexual behavior in France (ACSF): A comparison between two models of investigation: Telephone survey and face-to-face survey, AIDS, 6, 315
- Finkelhor, 1992, Sexual abuse prevention education: A review of evaluation studies, 150
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 101–147 of 147
Public Attitudes Toward Institutional Child Sexual Abuse in Israel: The Case of Malka Leifer
Lusky-Weisrose, E., Marmor, A., & Tener, D. (2021) · Sexual abuse. A Journal of Research and Treatment · doi:10.1177/10790632211000368 · Cited by 7
“This is in keeping with the RCIRCSA (Cahill, 2019) findings that stressed the importance of prevention programs to help children understand and respond to such situations (Finkelhor et al., 1995).”
ResultPlay it Safe!®: A School-Based Childhood Physical and Sexual Abuse Prevention Program
Blakey, J. M., & Thigpen, J. W. (2015) · UTC Scholar (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) · Cited by 8
Klebanov, B., & Katz, C. (2021) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/08862605211016351 · Cited by 9
“Another study (Finkelhor et al., 1995) found that both girls and boys tended to respond with a fight response.”
BackgroundRudolph, J. I., Zimmer‐Gembeck, M. J., Straker, D., Hambour, V. K., Hawes, T., & Swan, K. (2023) · Journal of Child Sexual Abuse · doi:10.1080/10538712.2023.2222116 · Cited by 7
“Although parents’ ability to protect their children from CSA has mostly been equated with PLSAE, the effectiveness of education in keeping children safe from abuse is yet to be confirmed (Finkelhor et al., 1995, 2014; Rudolph, Walsh, & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2022; Pelcovitz et al., 1992).”
BackgroundKindler, H. (2014) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-531-19095-2_7 · Cited by 7
Primary prevention of child sexual abuse: Child focused interventions
Caranzano-Maitre, M. (2015) · Arrow - TU Dublin (Technological University Dublin) · doi:10.21427/d7n427 · Cited by 10
Firnges, C., & Amann, S. (2015) · Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz · doi:10.1007/s00103-015-2266-7 · Cited by 5
Attrash-Najjar, A., Tener, D., & Katz, C. (2022) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105818 · Cited by 9
Sexual health education- is it still a taboo? A survey from an urban school in Puducherry
Manivasakan, J., & Sankaran, S. (2014) · International Journal of Reproduction Contraception Obstetrics and Gynecology · doi:10.5455/2320-1770.ijrcog20140331 · Cited by 6
Besser vorsorgen als nachsorgen
Cierpka, M. (2008) · Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht eBooks · doi:10.13109/9783666462092.59 · Cited by 6
Confronting Child Sexual Abuse
Nurse, A. M. (2020) · Lever Press eBooks · doi:10.3998/mpub.12085149 · Cited by 5
Wolfe, D. A., & Nayak, M. B. (2007) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-0-306-47968-7_5 · Cited by 5
“Similarly, programs that instruct children and their parents on how to avoid and report sexual abuse improve children's response to victimization, although relying on child-focused prevention alone is not sufficient ( Finkelhor, Asdigian, & Dzuiba-Leatherman, 1995 ).”
BackgroundShon, L. C. J. (2016) · doi:10.18297/etd/2478 · Cited by 4
Bright, M. A., Ortega, D. P., Bődi, C. B., & Walsh, K. (2024) · Child Maltreatment · doi:10.1177/10775595241276412 · Cited by 4
“…increased knowledge of risky situations, self-protective behaviors (e.g., being assertive, reporting unsafe situations to adults), bystander behaviors, and disclosures of victimization (Bright et al., 2022; Finkelhor et al., 1995; Kennedy, 2020; Polanin et al., 2012; Walsh et al., 2018).”
O papel da comunidade na prevenção dos Abusos Sexuais de Crianças (ASC)
María, S., & Ornelas, J. (2012) · Análise Psicológica · doi:10.14417/ap.298 · Cited by 2
Educating High School Black Males From Within the #MeToo Movement
Grimmett, M. A., Rowley, A., Williams, R. G., & Clark, C. (2021) · Professional School Counseling · doi:10.1177/2156759x211040042 · Cited by 3
“…tended to place the responsibility on girls, women, transgender, and gender nonconforming people to protect themselves, while men, boys, and society in general were passive or active enablers of sexual violence (Finkelhor et al., 1995; Hitchcock & Young, 1986; Hoxmeier et al., 2019; Kohl, 1993).”
BackgroundXu, K., Fu, J., & Yang, J. (2024) · International Journal of Public Health · doi:10.3389/ijph.2024.1606641 · Cited by 8
“Instead, children experienced an increase in knowledge of sexual abuse prevention [17, 58], a decrease in self-blame for sexual abuse [60], a rise in the disclosure of sexual abuse incidents [61], an improvement in parent-child communication [62], and no increase in sexual problems [63].”
BackgroundChild Abuse Prevention and Intervention Services
Kees, M. R., & Bonner, B. L. (2005) · Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers eBooks · doi:10.1007/0-387-23864-6_10 · Cited by 3
A LITERATURE REVIEW ON SCHOOL CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION PROGRAMS
Korn, L. (2004) · Cited by 3
The Origins of Child Sexual Abuse: An Analysis of Developmental and Situational Factors
McKillop, N. (2012) · Griffith Research Online · doi:10.25904/1912/2289 · Cited by 3
McElearney, A., Stephenson, P., & Adamson, G. (2011) · Cited by 2
Chapitre 14. La victimisation et les mesures de prévention
Hébert, M., Daigneault, I., & Tourigny, M. (2015) · Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal eBooks · doi:10.4000/books.pum.2915 · Cited by 3
La violencia de género, prevención educativa
Grande, M. D. P. (2007) · doi:10.36576/summa.29538 · Cited by 2
Systematische review naar effectieve interventies ter preventie van kindermishandeling
van Leerdam, F. J. M., Kooijman, K., Öry, F. G., & Landweer, M. (2001) · TNO Repository · Cited by 2
Navarro, J. N. (2013) · Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research · Cited by 1
Education for the prevention of sexual abuse in the early years
Walsh, K., Berthelsen, D. C., & Nicholson, J. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108658874.010 · Cited by 1
Swain, S., Warne, E., & Hillel, M. (2004) · Research Bank (Australian Catholic University) · Cited by 1
Bődi, C. B., Ortega, D. P., Walsh, K., & Bright, M. A. (2025) · Child Maltreatment · doi:10.1177/10775595251345432 · Cited by 1
“…bullying victimization and perpetration (Gaffney et al., 2021b; Tto fi & Farrington, 2009) and encourage disclosure, which is a critical step in stopping victimization, reducing harm, and mitigating negative effects (Bright et al., 2022; Finkelhor et al., 1995; Kennedy, 2020; Polanin et al., 2012).”
Altan, B. A. (2018) · Journal of Human Sciences · doi:10.14687/jhs.v15i2.5188 · Cited by 1
Incest prevention: The role of the pediatric nurse practitioner
Flournoy, J. (1996) · Journal of Pediatric Health Care · doi:10.1016/s0891-5245(96)90050-4 · Cited by 1
Gabriels, T. (1995) · Massey Research Online (Massey University)
Yokotani, K. (2018) · Asian Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1007/s11417-018-9273-1
Empiricising and Substantiating Alfred Adler’s Theory of Child Molestation
Shon, L. C. J., & Shon, P. (2018) · Journal of Humanistic Psychology · doi:10.1177/0022167818801094
School-Based Prevention Child Sexual Abuse Program for School Age Children at Surabaya Indonesia
Khosianah, F. (2020) · Proceedings of the 1st Borobudur International Symposium on Humanities, Economics and Social Sciences (BIS-HESS 2019) · doi:10.2991/assehr.k.200529.250
Lawson, D. M. (2015) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119222750.refs
Victim-Focused Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse
Chiu, Y.-N., & Leclerc, B. (2013) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_103
Confronting Child Sexual Abuse
(2020) · Lever Press eBooks · doi:10.1353/book.83986 · Cited by 1
Education for the prevention of sexual abuse in the early years
Walsh, K., Berthelsen, D. C., & Nicholson, J. M. (2024) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009339506.010
Shon, L. C. J. (2024) · Violence and Victims · doi:10.1891/vv-2023-0065
McElearney, A., Stephenson, P., Shevlin, M. E., Adamson, G., Scott, J., & McBride, O. (2011)
Attrash-Najjar, A. (2026) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2026.107888
Bennett, C. R., Ejiofoh, B., Samuel, S., Treves-Kagan, S., Hambrick, M., Johnson, L., Lennon, R., Mirand, D., Hirsch, O., Grayson, A., et al. (2026) · Journal of Child Sexual Abuse · doi:10.1080/10538712.2026.2667224
Peritraumatic responses as conveyed by ultra-Orthodox survivors of child sexual abuse
Najjar, A. A., & Katz, C. (2026) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2026.109327
ANALYZING THE EFFECTS OF COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS TO PREVENT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN MINNESOTA
Schober, D. J. (2008) · KU ScholarWorks (University of Kansas)
Do elementary school-based child abuse prevention programs work? A high school follow-up
Ko, S. F., & Cosden, M. A. (2001) · Psychology in the Schools · doi:10.1002/1520-6807(200101)38:1
Metadata
- Authors
- Finkelhor, D., Asdigian, N., & Dziuba-Leatherman, J.
- Affiliations
- University of New Hampshire (US)
- ORCID
- Asdigian, Nancy
- Venue
- Child Abuse & Neglect
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1995-02
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 141-153
- ISSN
- 0145-2134 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2170274357
- Cited by
- 146
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 13.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Child Abuse & Neglect (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of New Hampshire Scholars Repository (University of New Hampshire at Manchester) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Keywords
- victimization prevention, child sexual abuse, school-based prevention, parental instruction, self-protection strategies, disclosure of victimization
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, Child Abuse, Child Abuse, Sexual, Female, Health Education, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Male, Parents, Self Disclosure, United States, Wounds and Injuries, Program Evaluation, Treatment Outcome
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
