Preventing Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

NCT05988398 | Completed Results DMC

• 2 other identifiers: 228111U01CE003405
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 356
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The overall goal of the 5-year project is to conduct both a process and rigorous outcome evaluation of The Set Me Free Projects (SMFP) READY to Stand (RTS) curriculum with an eye toward widespread dissemination to other U.S. communities, if deemed effective.

Conditions

Sex Trafficking; Sex Crimes; Commercial Sex; Sexual Violence; Child Abuse, Sexual; Sex Offense

Keywords

Human Trafficking; Sex Trafficking; Sex Crimes; Commercial Sex; Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children; Prevention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Commercial Sexual Exploitation Children (CSEC) Perpetration (STUDENT Reported)

  For the initial pool of items, we identified existing CSEC perpetration items from The National Study on Adolescent to Adult Health (ADD Health; Franchino-Olsen et al., 2021) and The My Life My Choices evaluation study (Rothman et al., 2021). The scale consists of 21 statements and response options included yes, no, or I do not want to answer this question. A total score is calculated from the sum of the items, with higher scores reflective of a higher sex trafficking perpetration experiences in the past month.

  1-month post RTS delivery

Secondary Outcomes (13)

• Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Victimization (STUDENT Reported)

  One-month post RTS delivery

• Bystander Readiness to Help (STUDENT Reported)

  One-month post RTS delivery

• Sexual Assault Victimization (STUDENT Reported)

  1-month post RTS delivery

• Sexual Assault Perpetration (STUDENT Reported)

  One-month post RTS delivery

• Sexual Harassment Victimization (STUDENT Reported)

  1-month post RTS delivery

Other Outcomes (11)

• CSEC Knowledge (STUDENT Reported)

  1-month post RTS delivery

• Efficacy (STUDENT Reported)

  1-month post RTS delivery

• Valuing Self (STUDENT Reported)

  1-month post RTS delivery

Study Arms (1)

RTS Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

RTS intervention will include a total of one 120-minute session of programming delivered to school personnel, and six, 45-minute sessions (total = 4.5 hours) for students. There are five components in this intervention that both students and school personnels will receive: 1) Psychoeducation on CSEC, 2) Healthy relationship skills training, 3) Programming components to enhance valuing of self and others, 4) Bystander intervention skills, and 5) Social norms for both students and school personnel. Students will additionally receive programming on Identification of safe people and resources, while school personnel will receive programming on Responding to Student Disclosures, and Cultural Humility.

Behavioral: READY To Stand Curriculum

Interventions

READY To Stand Curriculum BEHAVIORAL

Students will receive the RTS programming over six consecutive school days, spread over two weeks. The program is delivered in mixed-gender groups of 20 to 40 students and includes videos, small and large group discussions, activities, worksheets, and ample opportunities for skill-building. This curriculum is intended to be one piece of comprehensive prevention strategies that has the potential to make immediate and sustained impacts on reducing rates of CSEC perpetration in the lives of youth, including those most vulnerable to this pernicious crime.

Also known as: RTS

RTS Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 10 Years - 25 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• For school personnel, participants must be 18 years of age or older and currently employed at Hoover or All Points for the OPT and one of the eight high schools in DMPS for the survey development portion of the study (Aim 1g). We will include anyone working in administration (e.g., principal), teaching (e.g., academic subject matter instructor) or support service (e.g., counselor) capacity within any of the eight high schools encompassed within Des Moines Public School (DMPS) system.
• For students, participants must be in Grades 9 through 12 at one of the eight participating high schools in DMPS and be able to understand spoken English. For the OPT (Aims 1e, 1h) this includes Hoover and All Points.

You may not qualify if:

• For school personnel, not being 18 or older or currently employed at Hoover or All Points for the OPT and one of the eight high schools in DMPS.
• For students, being in Grades younger than 9 or older than 12 and not being enrolled in participating high school in DMPS.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Nebraska Lincoln: lead
• The Set Me Free Project: collaborator
• Des Moines Public Schools: collaborator
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

[a school district in the Midwest]

Des Moines, Iowa, 50047, United States

Location

Related Publications (28)

• Prevention CfDCa. Rigorously Evaluating Programs and Policies to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) RFA-CE-22-003. 2021

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• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System results. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/index.htm

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• Edwards KM, Banyard VL, Kirkner A. Parents Matter: A Descriptive Study of Parental Discussions With Teens About Violence Prevention and Related Topics. J Interpers Violence. 2022 Apr;37(7-8):NP3856-NP3874. doi: 10.1177/0886260520949153. Epub 2020 Aug 26.

  PMID: 32842824 BACKGROUND

• Edwards KM, Banyard VL, Waterman EA, Mitchell KJ, Jones LM, Kollar LMM, Hopfauf S, Simon B. Evaluating the Impact of a Youth-Led Sexual Violence Prevention Program: Youth Leadership Retreat Outcomes. Prev Sci. 2022 Nov;23(8):1379-1393. doi: 10.1007/s11121-022-01343-x. Epub 2022 Mar 18.

  PMID: 35303249 BACKGROUND

• Edwards KM, Littleton H. Development and pilot evaluation of an online intervention to prevent dating violence and problem drinking in sexual minority youth. University of Nebraska Lincoln, Lincoln, NE: National Institute of Health; 2021-2023.

  BACKGROUND

• Edwards KM, Sessarego SN, Stanley LR, Mitchell KJ, Eckstein RP, Rodenhizer KAE, Leyva PC, Banyard VL. Development and Psychometrics of Instruments to Assess School Personnel's Bystander Action in Situations of Teen Relationship Abuse and Sexual Assault. J Interpers Violence. 2021 Feb;36(3-4):NP1586-1606NP. doi: 10.1177/0886260517746946. Epub 2017 Dec 20.

  PMID: 29295034 BACKGROUND

• Franchino-Olsen H, Martin SL, Halpern CT, Preisser JS, Zimmer C, Shanahan M. Adolescent Experiences of Violence Victimizations Among Minors Who Exchange Sex/Experience Minor Sex Trafficking. J Interpers Violence. 2022 Sep;37(17-18):NP16277-NP16301. doi: 10.1177/08862605211021967. Epub 2021 Jun 30.

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• Lebech M. What is human dignity? Maynooth philosophical papers. 2004;2:59-69.

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• Lerner, R. M., Almerigi, J. B., Theokas, C., & Lerner, J. V. (2005). Positive youth development a view of the issues. The journal of early adolescence, 25(1), 10-16.

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• Monitoring the future national survey results on drug use, 1975-2020: Overview, key findings on adolescent drug use. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED611736.

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• Park N. Character strengths and positive youth development. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 2004;591(1):40-54. doi:10.1177/0002716203260079

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• Proctor E, Silmere H, Raghavan R, Hovmand P, Aarons G, Bunger A, Griffey R, Hensley M. Outcomes for implementation research: conceptual distinctions, measurement challenges, and research agenda. Adm Policy Ment Health. 2011 Mar;38(2):65-76. doi: 10.1007/s10488-010-0319-7.

  PMID: 20957426 BACKGROUND

• Project P. COMPREHENSIVE HUMAN TRAFFICKING ASSESSMENT. 2011

  BACKGROUND

• Project SMF. READY to Stand Curriculum. 2021

  BACKGROUND

• Quinn-Nilas C, Milhausen RR, Breuer R, Bailey J, Pavlou M, DiClemente RJ, Wingood GM. Validation of the Sexual Communication Self-Efficacy Scale. Health Educ Behav. 2016 Apr;43(2):165-71. doi: 10.1177/1090198115598986. Epub 2015 Aug 17.

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• Quirk, K., Newcomb, M. E., & Mustanski, B. (2018). LGBQ identity integration and the association with justification of violence. Psychology of Violence, 8(2), 184.

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• Rothman EF, Paruk J, Cuevas CA, Temple JR, Gonzales K. The Development of the Measure of Adolescent Relationship Harassment and Abuse (MARSHA): Input From Black and Multiracial, Latinx, Native American, and LGBTQ+ Youth. J Interpers Violence. 2022 Mar;37(5-6):2126-2149. doi: 10.1177/0886260520936367. Epub 2020 Jul 5.

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• Waterman EA, Banyard VL, Edwards KM, Mauer VA. Youth perceptions of prevention norms and peer violence perpetration and victimization: A prospective analysis. Aggress Behav. 2022 Jul;48(4):402-417. doi: 10.1002/ab.22024. Epub 2022 Feb 16.

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• Weiner BJ, Lewis CC, Stanick C, Powell BJ, Dorsey CN, Clary AS, Boynton MH, Halko H. Psychometric assessment of three newly developed implementation outcome measures. Implement Sci. 2017 Aug 29;12(1):108. doi: 10.1186/s13012-017-0635-3.

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  BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sex Work; Coitus

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Sexual Behavior; Behavior

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Katie M Edwards
• Organization: University of Michigan

edkatie@umich.edu

734-647-8812

Study Officials

• Katie M Edwards, PhD

  University of Nebraska Lincoln

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Rochelle Dalla, PhD

  University of Nebraska Lincoln

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Lorey Wheeler, PhD

  University of Nebraska Lincoln

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Two Schools will receive the intervention in addition to pre- and post- surveys. There is no control group.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 4, 2023
• First Posted: August 14, 2023
• Study Start: September 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: May 29, 2024
• Study Completion: May 29, 2024
• Last Updated: May 30, 2025
• Results First Posted: May 30, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Data will be made available likely around summer 2025. It will be made available indefinitely.
• Access Criteria: See above in Plan Description

Locations

US (1)