Multi-country cultural adaptation of Prevent It 2.0: a prevention programme for adults with sexual urges towards children

Child sexual exploitation and abuse perpetration is a global public health concern, and it is crucial to implement both secondary and tertiary prevention. This paper describes the cultural adaptation of a perpetration prevention programme for adults concerned about their sexual urges regarding children. Prevent It was culturally adapted and translated into German, Portuguese and Swedish as part of the Priority Project. We describe the steps followed to culturally adapt the programme, including the intervention and related assessment measures. We also identify the main challenges and lessons learned across this three-country adaptation process. The theoretical framework that guided all processes was the Ecological Validity Model, operationalised according to the Principles of Good Practice for the Translation and Cultural Adaptation Process for Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures, Participatory and Interactive Process Framework for Language Adaption and performing focus groups. We hope our work promotes more adaptation and dissemination of evidence-based perpetration prevention.Practice impact statement This paper may be helpful for other intervention developers, healthcare providers, policymakers, and researchers working to scale effective perpetration interventions that keep children safe from child sexual abuse and exploitation.