The Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse awarded a $1.6 million, four-year research grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

MOORE CENTER TO COLLABORATE WITH BARRY UNIVERSITY TO CREATE AN ONLINE INTERVENTION FOR PEOPLE WITH AN ATTRACTION TO CHILDREN

In January 2020, the Moore Center was awarded a $1.6 million grant from the CDC to develop, execute, and test the effectiveness of Help Wanted Prevention, a free, online course aimed to help individuals attracted to younger children live safe, healthy, non-offending lives.

“The stigma associated with having a sexual interest in children is tremendous but having the attraction does not at all doom a person to acting on that attraction,” said Elizabeth Letourneau, PhD, director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and co-PI. “Many people do not act, but still want support in other areas of their lives, and of course, some people do want support in avoiding abusive behavior. The bottom line is that many people with sexual attraction to children seek and utilize supportive services. That’s what makes preventive inventions such as Help Wanted so important.”

In collaboration with Jill Levenson, PhD, professor, School of Social Work at Barry University and co-investigator, the Moore Center team will conduct an empirically rigorous evaluation of Help Wanted, to determine whether it works as intended. This research project is the first of its kind in the U.S. and breaks new ground in the primary prevention of child sexual abuse.

In the months ahead, the study will be executed in three phases including an initial revision of Help Wanted based on feedback from current help-seekers, a randomized control evaluation trial, and a final revision of the intervention based on trial results. Ultimately, this study will determine whether Help Wanted is efficacious in reducing child sexual abuse perpetration behaviors and improving the psychosocial well-being of help-seekers.