“I Am Learning to Protect Myself with Mika”: An Evaluation of Self-Protection Behaviors of Turkish Preschoolers

Child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention programs contribute to increases in children’s knowledge and skills to protect themselves from CSA. However, there is a paucity of research investigating self-protection behaviors among children to demonstrate whether relevant CSA knowledge and skills are transferable in risky situations. We aimed to examine the effectiveness of the “I am learning to protect myself with Mika” program on preschool children’s self-protection behaviors. The sample included 51 preschool children (54.9% girls) from Izmir, Turkey and their parents. The mean age of the children was 65.57 months (SD = 7.21). The present study employed a posttest-only control group design, and the classrooms were randomly assigned to the intervention and wait-list comparison groups. The participating teachers implemented the program over a five-week period. Then, children’s self-protection behavior was assessed with children from both groups using a role-play scenario involving a request from a stranger. Accordingly, we tested whether children in the intervention group were more likely to demonstrate self-protection behaviors compared to those in the comparison group. The findings showed that the intervention group (77.3%) rejected the offer from strangers and behaved more safely than did the wait-list comparison group (24.2%; χ2(1) = 13.879, p < 0.001). “I am learning to protect myself with Mika” was found to be effective in contributing to preschoolers’ self-protective behaviors. The promising results obtained in this study may encourage further exploration of the behavioral outcomes of sexual abuse prevention programs.