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Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group

Scientific Rating:
2
Supported by Research Evidence
See scale of 1-5
Child Welfare Relevance Level:
Medium

See descriptions of 3 levels

Brief Description

The information in this program outline is provided by the program representative and edited by the CEBC staff. The Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group program has been rated by the CEBC in the area of: Sexual Behavior Problems in Children, Treatment of.

  • Types of Maltreatment: Does not target any specific kind of maltreatment
  • Target Population: Children with sexual behavior problems. Boys and girls ages 6 to 12 years of age and their caregivers.

Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group is a family-oriented, cognitive-behavioral, psychoeducational, and supportive treatment group designed to reduce or eliminate incidents of sexual behavior problems:

  • The program is an outpatient group treatment program for children ages 6 to 12 years and their parents or other caregivers.
  • Program can be provided to individual families when group is not an option.
  • The treatment is provided as an open-ended group, with children able to graduate in 4-5 months.
  • Collaboration with child protective services, juvenile court personnel, school personnel, and others involved is highly recommended.

The children acknowledge the previous breaking of sexual behavior rules, learn coping and self-control strategies, and develop a plan of how they were going to keep these rules in the future. Caregivers were taught how to supervise the children, teach and implement rules in the home, communicate about sex education, and reduce behavior problems utilizing behavior parent training strategies.

The goals of Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group are to:

  • Eliminate or reduce problematic sexual behavior
  • Improve child behavior via better parental monitoring, supervision, and behavior management skills
  • Improve parent-child interaction and communication
  • Improve coping, self-control, and social skills

Essential Components

The essential components of Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group are:

  • Modeling, observing, and providing constructive and corrective feedback on skills
  • Structured program and providers who use a directive approach
  • Addressing components with Children and Caregivers
    • Rules about sexual behavior
    • Boundaries
    • Abuse prevention skills
    • Emotional regulation and coping skills
    • Impulse control and problem solving skills
    • Sex education
    • Social skills and peer relationships
    • Acknowledge, apology, and amends
  • Addressing additional components for caregivers
    • Behavior parent training to prevent and respond to sexual behavior problems as well as other behavior problems
    • Sexual development and child development including moral development
    • Dispelling misconceptions regarding the behavior and implications to the child
    • Support

Child Component

Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group was designed with a child component that addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms:

  • Sexual behavior problems, general behavior problems, and internalizing symptoms

Age range: 6 – 12

Developmental Delays:

This program was not developed for children with developmental delays, and has not been tested for children with developmental delays.

Treatment Involves Family/Support Structures:

This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: Program requires weekly parent/caretaker attendance and active participation, monitoring and supporting child application of skills between sessions, and ongoing assessment of child progress in treatment.

Parent / Caregiver Component

Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group was designed with a parent/caregiver component that addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms:

  • Parent/caregiver of a child with sexual behavior problems.  Limited understanding of sexual development, sexual behavior problems, and parenting strategies that improve boundaries and reduce sexual behavior problems.

Group Format

Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group was designed to be conducted in a group setting, and has been tested for use in a group setting.

Recommended group size:

Separate 6-9 year olds from 10-12 year olds. 5-8 children in each group. One caregiver group for these two groups can be used – or separate caregiver group depending on program decisions.

Testing References:

Carpentier, M., Silovsky, J. F. & Chaffin, M. (2006). Randomized trial of treatment for children with sexual behavior problems: Ten year follow-up.  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(3), 482-488.

Delivery Setting

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

  • Outpatient Clinic

Homework

Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group includes a homework component:

Each week the child and caregiver have activities that have them apply or practice the skills/ information taught.

Languages

Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group does not have materials available in a language other than English.

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

  • Group rooms including one room large enough to hold all the families for the parent-child group component.
  • Chalk or dry erase board.
  • Co-therapists for each child group (recommended). One therapist for the caretaker/parents group.
  • Personnel to conduct the intake assessments.
  • Supervisor/director of the program.
  • Therapeutic materials, such as books.

Minimum Provider Qualifications

Supervisor and lead therapists are recommended to be licensed mental health practitioners with previous experience in treatment for children and their caregivers for children with behavior problems and children who have been maltreated.

Education and Training Resources

There is a manual that describes how to implement this program, and there is training available for this program.

Training Contact:
Training is obtained:

Onsite or at OUHSC

Number of days/hours:

Depends in part on training and experience of staff to be trained. Typically there are 4 days of initial training, ongoing consultation (preferred live observation of program via polocom), and at least one booster training visit.

Implementation Information

Since Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group is highly rated on the Scientific Rating Scale, information was requested from the program representative on available pre-implementation assessments, implementation tools, and/or fidelity measures.

Show implementation information...

Pre-Implementation Assessments

To be given to organizations or providers in order to measure organizational or individual readiness:

The Sexual Behavior Problems of Youth Program Assessment assesses organizational and provider readiness and capacity for EBP for youth with SBP. The assessment asks about current referral, intake, and treatment program and capacities as well as staff, agency, and program skills, resources, and abilities. It is available via Dr. Silovsky contact info above and at the end.

Implementation Tools — for the program (e.g., implementation guides or manuals)

There is background manual that provides information to assist agencies with their program development.

Fidelity Measures

No fidelity measures are available at this time.

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

This program is rated a "2 - Supported by Research Evidence" on the Scientific Rating Scale based on the published, peer-reviewed research available. The practice must have at least one rigorous randomized controlled trial with a sustained effect of at least 6 months. Please see the Scientific Rating Scale for more information.

Child Welfare Outcomes: Safety and Child/Family Well-Being

Carpentier, M., Silovsky, J.F. & Chaffin, M. (2006). Randomized trial of treatment for children with sexual behavior problems: Ten year follow-up. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(3), 482-488.

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 291

Population:

  • Age range — 5 to 12 years
  • Race/Ethnicity — 85% Caucasian, 9% African American, 4% American Indian, and 2% Other
  • Gender — 67% Male, 33% Female
  • Status — Participants in the treatment group were children with sexual behavior problems recruited from child welfare, law enforcement and juvenile court, physicians, school personnel and mental health centers.

Location / Institution: Oklahoma State University and University of Oklahoma

Summary: (To include comparison groups, outcomes, measures, notable limitations)
The study provided long-term follow-up data for children with sexual behavior problems from a randomized trial comparing the 12-session Children with Sexual Behavior Problems Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program: School-Age Group and group play therapy (based on a combination of client-centered and psychodynamic play therapy principles). 135 children were randomized into one of two treatment groups, and compared to a sample of 156 children with nonsexual behavior problems treated at the same mental health clinic. Ten-year follow-up data on future juvenile and adult arrests and child welfare perpetration reports were collected. Measures were administered at baseline, post-treatment, at 1-year and 2-year follow-ups and included the Child Behavior Checklist-Parent Form (CBCL), Child Sexual Behavior Inventory, Version 2 (CSBI-2), and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (KBIT). Results indicated that the CBT group had significantly fewer future sex offenses than the play therapy group (2% vs. 10%) and did not differ from the general clinic comparison (3%), supporting the use of short-term CBT. There were no group differences in nonsexual offenses (21%). A limitation is that offense data was only obtained from Oklahoma and children may not have lived in the state for the entire 10 year follow-up period, and thus offenses may be under-reported, with any offenses committed in other states not included in the analyses.

Length of post-intervention follow-up: 10 years.

References

Bonner, B. L., Walker, C. E., & Berliner, L. (1999b).  Treatment manual for cognitive behavioral group therapy for children with sexual behavior problems.  Grant No. 90-CA-1469. Washington D.C.: Administration of Children, Youth, and Families, DHHS.

Bonner, B. L., Walker, C. E., & Berliner, L. (1999c).  Treatment manual for cognitive behavioral group treatment for parents/caregivers of children with sexual behavior problems. Grant No. 90-CA-1469. Washington D.C.: Administration of Children, Youth, and Families, DHHS.

Silovsky, J. F., Swisher, L., & Widdifield, J. (2010). Treatment for school-age children with sexual behavior problems and their families: 3rd Edition. Adapted from Bonner, Walker, & Berliner (1999).

Contact Information

Name: Jane F. Silovsky, PhD
Agency/Affiliation: University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Website: www.oumedicine.com/body.cfm?id=1532
Email:
Phone: (405) 271-8858
Fax: (405) 271-2931

Date Reviewed: April 2011