Effect of Group Counseling on Parents' Self-Efficacy, Knowledge, Attitude, and Communication Practice in Preventing Sexual Abuse of Children Aged 2-6 Years: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

The study was limited to three kindergartens in Karaj, Iran, and the parent sample included 1 male parent in the intervention group and 3 male parents in the control group, so it may not apply to other communities or male caregivers. The knowledge questionnaire had poor internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.42 in the original version and 0.45 in the Persian version), so knowledge scores may be unreliable. The paper does not report blinding of participants or outcome assessment. Follow-up was only one month, so longer-term effects are unknown. The counseling included several topics and steps at once, so the study cannot show which part produced the change. The paper gives an unclear result for the control group's self-efficacy across time, saying it was not statistically significant but reporting P<0.001. No child outcomes or actual sexual abuse events were measured.

Do not conclude that group counseling prevents child sexual abuse. The trial measured parents' self-reported knowledge, attitude, communication practice, and self-efficacy, not actual abuse or child outcomes. The counseling also included several topics and steps delivered together, so the effect of any single component cannot be separated.