Parent's Perceptions of Their Child's Knowledge of Sexual Abuse Prevention Concepts

This research investigates the relationship of parental knowledge of the seriousness of child sexual abuse and their children's understanding of sexual abuse prevention concepts. A total of 284 parents and their elementary school-aged children were surveyed immediately after and 5 months after the children participated in a school-based child abuse prevention program. In the first survey, the parents were asked whether they had provided prevention materials or had talked to their child about sexual abuse. At 5 months, 201 parents answered a short test of knowledge regarding child sexual abuse. At the same time, their children completed a 40 item Children's Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire (C.K.A.Q.) and the parents were asked to predict how their child would respond to 10 key items from this measure. Results indicated that parents in general were likely to overestimate the knowledge levels of the younger children. However, parents with higher knowledge levels more accurately predicted how their child would respond to the selcted C.K.A.Q. items.