Talking for Change: Secondary Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse Perpetration
Talking for Change: A Patient Preference Randomized Controlled Trial
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
220 participants
Apr 17, 2025
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
The goal of this patient preference randomized controlled trial is to investigate the efficacy of Talking for Change (TFC), an intervention for the secondary prevention of child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSA) perpetration. Blinded clinical raters will evaluate the primary endpoint-reductions in dynamic risk factors for sexual offending against children-and clients will provide self-reports to evaluate a second primary outcome-reductions in sexual contact with children, accessing online child sexual exploitation material (CSEM), and desire for sexual contact with children. Researchers will compare the following groups: (1) those receiving 20 weeks of the experimental TFC group psychotherapy; (2) those receiving 20 weeks of a control group psychotherapy targeting mental health and stress more broadly; and (3) those receiving no treatment.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria11
- Must be deemed to have capacity to provide informed consent;
- Must sign and date the informed consent form;
- Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures;
- Be 18 years of age or older upon study commencement;
- Be referred for care in the TFC program due to concerns about enhanced risk of sexual offending against children.
- Must self-report concerns about enhanced risk of sexual offending against children
- Must be deemed to have capacity to provide informed consent;
- Must check the appropriate box on the informed consent form;
- Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures;
- Be 18 years of age or older upon study commencement.
- For the benchmarking survey arm, participants must check the appropriate box on the informed consent form.
Exclusion Criteria6
- For the treatment arms:
- Inability to engage meaningfully in group psychotherapy (e.g., due to intellectual disability, other neurodiversity, active psychosis or substance use)
- Those who self-identify as at-risk for reasons better accounted for by non-risk-relevant factors per clinical assessment (e.g., those with obsessive-compulsive disorder including thoughts about CSA, who commonly fear that they are at-risk but are not).
- Non-male sex.
- For the benchmarking interview arm:
- \. Non-male sex.
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Interventions
Talking for Change (TFC) is a secondary prevention program that targets dynamic risk factors for child sexual abuse, including (1) atypical sexual interests and sexual self-regulation problems; (2) problems in relationships; (3) offense-supportive attitudes; and (4) general self-regulation deficits and related traits (e.g., impulsivity, emotion regulation deficits). Participants will complete 20 weekly, 120-minute sessions delivered via WebEx.
The active therapeutic control is a non-directive supportive psychotherapy that targets general mental health concerns. It consists of psychoeducation about human sexuality and common mental health concerns, as well as instruction and practice in applied relaxation and stress management, and group discussions that will facilitate sharing and problem-solving current stressors. This active control intervention is equivalent in length to Talking for Change (TFC), consisting of 120-minute long occurring weekly over the course of 20 weeks.
Locations(1)
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NCT07001735