Background

Sexual abuse is a global concern among children with intellectual disabilities. Sexual abuse is frequent and long-lasting when the victim is a child with an intellectual disability. Moreover, the rate of sexual abuse is two to eight times the rate in the general population.

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the knowledge of sexual abuse and resistance ability among children with intellectual disabilities.

Participants and setting

The study was conducted among 120 children with mild or moderate intellectual disabilities attending twelve schools for specific purposes.

Methods

We adopted a cross-sectional design to assess knowledge and resistance ability. Personal Safety Questionnaire and Modified What If Situation Test were administered verbally during individual interviews. Institutional Ethics Committee approved our study.

Results

Current study suggests that children with intellectual disabilities have average knowledge (M = 6.6, SD = 1.6) regarding sexual abuse. More than 90 % of children demonstrated poor reporting skills. Although children exhibited good knowledge in differentiating appropriate from inappropriate touch requests, most children reported they would not disclose this incident to anyone.

Conclusions

This study strongly suggests the need for a structured training program for children with intellectual disabilities to prevent sexual abuse.

中文翻译：

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智障儿童性虐待知识及抵抗能力

背景

性虐待是智障儿童面临的一个全球性问题。当受害人是智障儿童时，性虐待就很频繁且持续时间很长。此外，性虐待的发生率是普通人群的两到八倍。

客观的

本研究旨在调查智障儿童性虐待知识知晓情况及抵抗能力。

参与者和设置

该研究是在 120 名有轻度或中度智力障碍的儿童中进行的，这些儿童出于特定目的就读于 12 所学校。

方法

我们采用横截面设计来评估知识和抵抗能力。人身安全问卷和修改后的情景测试是在个人访谈中口头进行的。机构伦理委员会批准了我们的研究。

结果

目前的研究表明，智障儿童对性虐待的了解一般（M  = 6.6，SD  = 1.6）。超过 90% 的儿童表现出较差的报告能力。尽管儿童在区分适当和不适当的触摸请求方面表现出很好的知识，但大多数儿童报告说他们不会向任何人透露这一事件。

结论

这项研究强烈表明需要为智障儿童提供结构化培训计划，以防止性虐待。