Parental-Led Sexual Abuse Education Amongst At-Risk Parents: Associations with Parenting Practices, and Parent and Child Symptomology

Considering the emphasis on parent-led sexual abuse education (PLSAE) in child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention, and the imperative of prevention in families living with demonstrated risk factors, it is important to understand the extent to which this group delivers PLSAE to their children, whether this is associated with any barriers or facilitators, whether parents are engaging in other protective behaviors (such as monitoring and involvement) and the relationship between these variables and other risk factors such as parent and child symptomology. We surveyed 117 parents, with children ranging in age from 25-89 months (67% boys), attending a parenting program for assistance with a range of parenting difficulties and child behavior problems from 2020-22. A large majority of parents reported not giving their children comprehensive prevention messages, discussing body integrity and abduction dangers to a greater extent. PLSAE was significantly positively associated with child internalizing and externalizing symptoms; parent and child age; and discussion of body integrity and abduction. However, PLSAE was not associated with any other measured variables (protective parenting; CSA knowledge; parenting self-efficacy; general and own-child risk appraisal; parent burnout, stress, depression or anxiety; child diagnosis; parental education level; employment or marital status; or income). The current findings suggest that investing resources into increasing parental knowledge, risk perception and confidence may be misguided. Future endeavors should consider helping parents be protective in other ways, for example, through the creation of safe environments and reducing the risks of CSA.