Training and evaluation of robot-based psychological intervention program for preventing child sexual abuse

Background and purpose: Preventing child sexual abuse is a health and medical priority in many countries. The risk of sexual abuse can be markedly reduced through education, awareness, and skill-building for children. The purpose of this study was to train and evaluate a robot-based psychological in...

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Main Authors: Mohammad Tahan, Gholamali Afrooz, Jafar Bolhari
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-08-01
Series:Child Protection and Practice
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950193824000305
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author Mohammad Tahan
Gholamali Afrooz
Jafar Bolhari
author_facet Mohammad Tahan
Gholamali Afrooz
Jafar Bolhari
author_sort Mohammad Tahan
collection DOAJ
description Background and purpose: Preventing child sexual abuse is a health and medical priority in many countries. The risk of sexual abuse can be markedly reduced through education, awareness, and skill-building for children. The purpose of this study was to train and evaluate a robot-based psychological intervention program for preventing child sexual abuse. Methods: This study had a semiexperimental design that included pre- and posttests as well as a control group. A stratified random sample of 80 individuals was drawn from the population of eight-to ten-year-old children in Ghaen, Iran, in 2018. Subsequently, the sample was randomly divided into two experimental groups and two control groups. The experimental group participated in a robot-based psychological intervention program, for a total of 10 sessions. The control group received no intervention. The tool used to measure children's knowledge and awareness of sexual abuse was a custom-designed questionnaire developed by Tahan (Tahan, 2023). Participants completed the questionnaire in the pretest, posttest, and follow-up stages. The collected data were analyzed using repeated measures ANCOVA in SPSS (v.25). Results: The findings demonstrated that educating children about sexual abuse was effective in enhancing their knowledge of appropriate and inappropriate touching (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the robot-based cognitive-behavioral intervention program for the prevention of child sexual abuse was effective (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The psychological intervention program increased children's knowledge and awareness concerning the prevention of sexual abuse and associated coping skills. Furthermore, psychological intervention programs were effective in preventing child sexual abuse.
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spelling doaj-art-2b040f3f9b2345e6b4eb4ff9891efcdd2025-08-20T02:54:59ZengElsevierChild Protection and Practice2950-19382024-08-01210003010.1016/j.chipro.2024.100030Training and evaluation of robot-based psychological intervention program for preventing child sexual abuseMohammad Tahan0Gholamali Afrooz1Jafar Bolhari2Department of Psychology and Exceptional Children Education, University of Tehran, Iran; Corresponding author.Department of Psychology and Exceptional Children Education, University of Tehran, IranSocio-Psychiatric Department, Iran University of Medical Sciences, IranBackground and purpose: Preventing child sexual abuse is a health and medical priority in many countries. The risk of sexual abuse can be markedly reduced through education, awareness, and skill-building for children. The purpose of this study was to train and evaluate a robot-based psychological intervention program for preventing child sexual abuse. Methods: This study had a semiexperimental design that included pre- and posttests as well as a control group. A stratified random sample of 80 individuals was drawn from the population of eight-to ten-year-old children in Ghaen, Iran, in 2018. Subsequently, the sample was randomly divided into two experimental groups and two control groups. The experimental group participated in a robot-based psychological intervention program, for a total of 10 sessions. The control group received no intervention. The tool used to measure children's knowledge and awareness of sexual abuse was a custom-designed questionnaire developed by Tahan (Tahan, 2023). Participants completed the questionnaire in the pretest, posttest, and follow-up stages. The collected data were analyzed using repeated measures ANCOVA in SPSS (v.25). Results: The findings demonstrated that educating children about sexual abuse was effective in enhancing their knowledge of appropriate and inappropriate touching (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the robot-based cognitive-behavioral intervention program for the prevention of child sexual abuse was effective (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The psychological intervention program increased children's knowledge and awareness concerning the prevention of sexual abuse and associated coping skills. Furthermore, psychological intervention programs were effective in preventing child sexual abuse.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950193824000305Preventing child sexual abusePsychological interventionChildrenRobot
spellingShingle Mohammad Tahan
Gholamali Afrooz
Jafar Bolhari
Training and evaluation of robot-based psychological intervention program for preventing child sexual abuse
Child Protection and Practice
Preventing child sexual abuse
Psychological intervention
Children
Robot
title Training and evaluation of robot-based psychological intervention program for preventing child sexual abuse
title_full Training and evaluation of robot-based psychological intervention program for preventing child sexual abuse
title_fullStr Training and evaluation of robot-based psychological intervention program for preventing child sexual abuse
title_full_unstemmed Training and evaluation of robot-based psychological intervention program for preventing child sexual abuse
title_short Training and evaluation of robot-based psychological intervention program for preventing child sexual abuse
title_sort training and evaluation of robot based psychological intervention program for preventing child sexual abuse
topic Preventing child sexual abuse
Psychological intervention
Children
Robot
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950193824000305
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AT jafarbolhari trainingandevaluationofrobotbasedpsychologicalinterventionprogramforpreventingchildsexualabuse