Rigorous Evaluation of the READY to Stand Curriculum to Prevent the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)-Perpetration Experiences

Behaviorally worded items to assess students' self-reports of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) victimization perpetration; answers are binary (Yes/No) with an option not to answer. Scale information: items are summed and used to create two variables, one indicating if a student has ever experienced these activities and the other indicating if a student has experienced these activities in the past 1 or 6 months (1-month time frame utilized at baseline, 6-month time frame utilized for all follow ups). Higher scores indicate worse outcomes.

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)-Bystander Opportunity and Action

Response options range from 0 to "10 or more" with an option to not answer. If participants report "one or more times" they are then asked how many times they took the specified actions. Eleven actions are listed, two of which are negative behaviors, such as doing nothing, with the other nine actions being positive behaviors, such as trying to stop the situation. For each positive action, students' responses are re-coded into a binary variable where 0=did not take action and 1=did take action. For each negative item, responses are reverse-scored. Items are then summed to create an overall score that could range from 2 to 7, with a higher score indicating better outcomes.

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)-Victimization Experiences

Behaviorally worded items to assess students' self-reports of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) victimization; answers are binary (Yes/No) with an option not to answer. Scale information: items are summed and used to create two variables, one indicating if a student has ever experienced these activities and the other indicating if a student has experienced these activities in the past month. Higher scores indicate worse outcomes.

Dating and Sexual Violence Victimization

Dating and sexual violence victimization will be assessed using items adapted from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and the Measure of Adolescent Relationship Harassment and Abuse (MARSHA). Items assess sexual violence, physical dating violence, psychological dating violence, and controlling behavior. Participants report the frequency of each experience during the specified assessment period, with higher scores indicating greater frequency of victimization.

Dating and Sexual Violence Perpetration

Dating and sexual violence perpetration will be assessed using items adapted from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and the Measure of Adolescent Relationship Harassment and Abuse (MARSHA). Items assess sexual violence, physical dating violence, psychological dating violence, and controlling behavior. Participants report the frequency of each behavior during the specified assessment period, with higher scores indicating greater frequency of perpetration.

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Knowledge

Researcher created items to assess knowledge about sex trafficking (that aligns with the student programming being received). This measure is comprised of 19 items across four subscales. For each subscale, a total score is calculated by taking the mean of the items. The mean is the proportion of items answered correctly; scores can range from 0-1, with a higher score indicating better outcomes.

Efficacy to Avoid Victimization (Efficacy)

Researcher created items to assess confidence in resistance to being a victim of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Answer options ranged from "not at all confident" (1), "somewhat confident" (2), to "very confident" (3), with an option not to answer. Items are summed with higher scores indicating better outcomes.

Valuing of Self and Others

Researcher created items to assess the extent to which students value themselves and others. Items were created based on positive youth development and dignity literature. Items comprise two subscales, one on self-value and the next on the value of others, each with eight statements. Participants are asked to rate the statements on a scale from "strongly disagree" (1) to "strongly agree" (4). One item in each section was reverse coded. Scores for the subscales were calculated by taking the average of the subscale items, with higher scores indicating better outcomes.

Healthy Relationships Skills

Items adapted from the Communications Skills Test and Sexual Communication Self-Efficacy Scale to assess conflict management and sexual refusal skills, used to assess students' communication skills with a romantic partner. In addition, two items were created by the researchers to assess consent and respecting boundaries that are based on the READY to Stand© program. Answer options included "very difficult" (1), "difficult" (2), "easy" (3), and "very easy" (4). Higher scale scores reflect healthier relationship communication skills, a better outcome.