Schools' readiness for child sexual abuse prevention education: Preliminary scale development using a Delphi method

Background: This study employed a Delphi method with a panel of experts to collaboratively design a new instrument to assess schools' readiness for school-based child sexual abuse prevention education. Methods: An initial item pool was generated based on a review of existing empirical research and theoretical models. We invited researchers and stakeholders in the field of child sexual abuse prevention as experts to participate in a two-round online Delphi study in which they rated item importance and clarity, contributed their views on superfluous and/or missing items, gave rephrasing suggestions, and re-appraised revised items. Following the Delphi study, the instrument was pilot tested with a convenience sample of school staff. Results: The initial item pool comprised 81 items in five construct sub-scales congruent with Wiener's Organizational Readiness for Change theory: contextual factors, informational assessment, change valence, change commitment, and change efficacy. In the Delphi study, 24 experts participated in round 1, and 13 participated in round 2. Based on Delphi study responses, the instrument was reduced to 56 items in the five construct subscales: contextual factors (28 items), informational assessment (13 items), change valence (6 items), change commitment (3 items), and change efficacy (6 items). The Schools' Readiness for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Education (SR-CSAPE) was successfully pilot tested with school staff ( n = 19) and minor changes to demographic items were incorporated. Conclusions: Informed by experts, the Schools' Readiness for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Education (SR-CSAPE) is a newly-developed 56 -item scale that identifies key organizational dimensions to schools' preparedness for CSA prevention education. Psychometric properties of the scale must be determined in future research.