Prevention Programs against Child Sexual Abuse for Preschool-aged Children : A Systematic Literature Review from 1980-2020

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a severe crime committed worldwide, which impairs the development of children and juveniles severely. Due to a high number of victims in early childhood, one prevention strategy, which is dedicated to the prevention education of children, is considered to be applied already in the preschool setting. The purpose of this literature review was to depict prevention programs against CSA for preschool-aged children regarding the curricula, and outcomes. A systematic database search was conducted in six databases ensuing in 15 articles. After applying a qualitative assessment, 13 studies were implied for analyzing. Programs included in this paper presented a variety of different learning contents, delivery forms, and teaching methods. The aims of the studies pointed to similar purposes, such as increasing children’s CSA knowledge and self- protection skills. However, the outcomes of the studies differed. The increase of knowledge that was demonstrated in each study mostly pertained at posttest. Outcomes of protection skills were diverse but mainly describing an enhancement. The CSA phenomenon is complex to address, especially regarding preschoolers, and measurement can only capture data that is quantifiable. Besides the limitations of this systematic literature research, practical implications and future research were addressed