Who Do You Tell?™
Note: The Who Do You Tell?™ program was not responsive to the CEBC's inquiry. The following information was obtained from publicly available sources.
About This Program
Target Population: Children from kindergarten to grade 6
Program Overview
The "Who Do You Tell?"™ child sexual abuse education program is designed for children from kindergarten to grade 6, with three different versions tailored to reflect the developmental level of the children being taught. It is delivered to Kindergarteners and those in grades 3-6 in two 45-minute sessions, those in grade 1 have nine sessions and those in grade 2 have eight on separate days in order to enhance retention by the students. Typically, "Who Do You Tell?"™ is taught in a classroom setting, but can easily be adapted to other child-oriented settings (e.g., community centers, boys and girls clubs, etc.).
A one-hour session with teachers outlining what will be taught, how to recognize sexual abuse in children, and how to respond to disclosures is an additional part of the program. A parent night which prepares parents for their children's participation in the program and provides them with information about child sexual abuse and responding to disclosures is also included.
Logic Model
The program representative did not provide information about a Logic Model for Who Do You Tell?™.
Manuals and Training
Publicly available information indicates there is a manual that describes how to deliver this program, and there is some training available for this program.
See contact info below.
Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research
Tutty, L. (1997). Child sexual abuse prevention programs: Evaluating Who Do You Tell. Child Abuse & Neglect, 21(9), 869–881. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(97)00048-3
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
231
Population:
- Age — 1st–6th grade
- Race/Ethnicity — 88% Caucasian
- Gender — Not specified
- Status — Participants were children attending two elementary separate (Catholic) schools.
Location/Institution: Calgary, Canada
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to examine the efficacy of the “Who Do You Tell?” sexual abuse prevention program for elementary school-aged children. Participants were randomly assigned to participate in the program or in a waitlist control condition. Measures utilized include the Children's Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire - Revised (CKAQ-R). Results indicate that children who received the “Who Do You Tell?” program increased their knowledge levels of both inappropriate touch and appropriate touch to a significantly greater degree than children in the control group. Age also significantly differentiated the knowledge levels regarding inappropriate touch, with younger children knowing fewer concepts both at pretest and posttest. Limitations include the small effect sizes, different results by age group, and lack of effect on actual abuse outcomes.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.
Tutty, L. (2000). What children learn from sexual abuse prevention programs: Difficult concepts and developmental issues. Research on Social Work Practice, 10(3), 275–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/104973150001000301
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
231
Population:
- Age — 1st– 6th grade
- Race/Ethnicity — 88% Caucasian
- Gender — Not specified
- Status — Participants were children attending two elementary separate (Catholic) schools.
Location/Institution: Calgary, Canada
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The study used the same sample as Tutty (1997). The purpose of the study was to examine children's prior knowledge of abuse prevention concepts and what changes after they received the “Who Do You Tell?” intervention. Analyses compared changes on each item of the Children’s Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire -Revised based on “Who Do You Tell?” group versus control condition and developmental level (ages 5 to 7 compared to ages 8 to 13). Results indicate that three items significantly improved for children in the “Who Do You Tell?” program as compared to the control condition across ages; dealing with telling others when uncomfortable with touch, children's rights with respect to grown-ups, and secrets. In each of these, and an additional 15 items, scores were significantly lower for younger than older children, suggesting that these concepts may need to be taught differently. Limitations include that children in the control condition also improved on some items and the largely Caucasian, two parent household sample, which may limit generalizability.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.
Tutty, L. M., Aubry, D., & Velasquez, L. (2020). The "Who Do You Tell?"™ child sexual abuse education program: Eight years of monitoring. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 29(1), 2–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2019.1663969
Type of Study:
One-group pretest–posttest study with a nonequivalent control group
Number of Participants:
6,198
Population:
- Age — Not specified
- Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
- Gender — Not specified
- Status — Participants were children from 50 elementary schools in grades 1 through 6.
Location/Institution: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to subsequently monitor the program outcomes of the "Who Do You Tell?"™ program over an eight-year period (2010–2017), examining knowledge/attitudes. Measures utilized include the shortened version of the Children's Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire (CKAQ-33). Results indicate that students who participated in the "Who Do You Tell?"™ education program eight-year monitoring significantly increased their knowledge of core child sexual abuse (CSA) education/prevention concepts. Limitations include lack of randomization, low alphas for the revised measure for the younger children, and lack of follow-up.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.
Additional References
Tutty, L. M. (2014). Listen to the children: Kids' impressions of the "Who Do You Tell?™ child sexual abuse education program: Eight years of monitoring, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 23(1), 17–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2013.841790
Contact Information
- Danielle Aubry, BSW, MSW
- Agency/Affiliation: Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse
- Website: www.calgarycasa.com/who-do-you-tell
- Email: wdyt@calgarycasa.com
- Phone: (403) 237-6905 x228
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: June 2023
Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: August 2020
Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: April 2015
