DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A PROGRAM F OR SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION IN PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN

The present study reports on the development and evaluation of an inte rvention program to prevent sexual abuse in the preschool age. The mai n aim of the program is to increase the social competencies of prescho ol children. Starting from critiques at existing prevention programs a n intervention adapted at the cognitive abilities of preschool childre n was developed. The central themes of the program are the abilities t o deal with feelings, touches, secrets, saying no, and getting support . The program effects were tested by an experimental study. Subjects w ere 80 preschool children aged 4 to 6 years. Forty children participat ed at the program while the other children served as control group. Th e results show dear increases of knowledge on all program dimensions w hich were stable over an interval of at least two months. The implicat ions of the results for the use of prevention programms for sexual abu se in the preschool age are evaluated and discussed.