The Effectiveness of Sex Education Training on Adaptation, Isolation and Social Skills of Sexually Abused Children and Normal Children

Childhood is one of the most important stages of life, in this period of life, all kinds of sexual harassment may occur for children. This research was conducted with the aim of the effectiveness of sex education in sexually abused children and normal children.

Methods and Materials:

 The present study was a semi-experimental design with a pre-test, post-test and two-month follow-up with a control group. The statistical population of this research was children aged 7 to 12 years in the southwest of Tehran in 1400. The statistical sample of this research consisted of 15 sexually abused children and 15 normal children in the 16th and 19th district of Tehran, who were selected using the purposeful sampling method. The research tools were Russell, Peplau and Cutrona isolation questionnaire (1978), California Clark et al.'s social adjustment questionnaire (1953) and Gresham and Elliott's social skills questionnaire (1990), which were implemented on both groups of children. Finally, the data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance methods with the help of SPSSV22 software.

The findings showed that sexual education training is more effective on increasing adaptation and social skills at the confidence level of 99% (P<0.01) and reducing isolationism at the confidence level of 95% (P<0.05) of sexually abused children compared to normal children.

The findings of the research show that sex education can reduce children's behavioral problems and improve their adaptation and social skills, and therefore, sex education should be prioritized for abused children.