WIST
WIST
WIST
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What-If-Situations-Test
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https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315881089.ch3
Alan G. Nemerofsky, Deborah T. Carran
Published online on: 12 Aug 2010
How to cite :- Alan G. Nemerofsky, Deborah T. Carran. 12 Aug 2010, What-If-Situations-Test from:
Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures Routledge
Accessed on: 05 Jun 2023
https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315881089.ch3
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Abuse 5
What-If-Situations-Test
ALAN G. NEMEROFSKY,1 Community College of Baltimore County
DEBORAH T. CARRAN, Johns Hopkins University
The What-If-Situations-Test (WIST; Nemerofsky, 1986) verbatim and scored by comparison to a key. The test
was developed to measure performance of preschool-age requires approximately 15 minutes to complete.
children in sexual abuse prevention programs. The WIST is
constructed from the learning objectives of the Children’s Scoring
Primary Prevention Training Program (Nemerofsky, Sanford,
Baer, Cage, & Wood, 1986) and is composed of situations that Scores can range from 0 to 64, with higher scores indi-
require the child to determine how he or she would respond. cating greater understanding of child sexual abuse pre-
The test items measure the skills and concepts taught in the vention skills and concepts. WIST items are differently
prevention program and address skills and concepts thought keyed according to the nature of the item. The 11 WIST
to be essential in reducing the risk of sexual victimization items requiring the child to make a determination about the
(Conte, Rosen, & Saperstein, 1986; Wurtele, 1987). The appropriateness of an action or situation are scored 0 points
WIST can be used as a pretest measure, as well as a measure for a wrong answer and 1 point for a correct response. The
of performance in sexual abuse prevention programs. 17 items addressing actions a child could take in abuse situ-
ations receive 1 point for an assertive or motoric response,
Description 2 points for disclosure, and 3 points for both an assertive
The WIST consists of 29 items addressing (a) the names and a disclosure response. The WIST item that requires the
and location of the child’s “private parts,” (b) appropriate child to name and locate his or her private parts receives
requests to touch or to examine the child’s genitals by phy- 0 points for a wrong answer, 1 point for a partial answer
sicians, (c) requests for touching of the child’s genitals by (e.g., child names only one private part), and 2 points for a
others, (d) requests for the child to touch another individu- complete correct answer (e.g., a girl’s private parts are her
al’s genitals, (e) the child’s right to refuse to be touched, (f) vagina, buttocks, and breasts).
appropriate requests to touch (hug/kiss) the child by others,
(g) requests to keep secrets, (h) requests to keep secrets Reliability
about genital touching, (i) attempts to provide gifts/bribes/ In a sample of 1,044 3- to 6-year-old children (Nemerofsky,
presents/incentives to touch child’s genitals or have the 1991), the Cronbach’s alpha for the WIST was .83, indicat-
child touch the genitals of another person, (j) actions to be ing good reliability.
taken if the child was afraid and/or uncomfortable, and (k)
the child’s role in potential abuse situations.
Eleven items require the child to make a determination Validity
about the appropriateness of an action or situation (e.g., In a study using the WIST pretest mean score as the covariate,
If someone touches a child’s private parts, should the WIST posttest mean scores of children who had completed
child tell?). Seventeen items deal with actions that a child a sexual abuse prevention training program were compared
should take in abuse situations (e.g., What would you do if to the control group of children who had not received the
someone touched your private parts?). One item addresses training. A significant difference was found between groups,
the names and locations of the child’s private parts. with the experimental group of children scoring signifi-
cantly higher on the WIST posttest following participation
Response Mode and Timing
in the sexual abuse prevention training program than the
The WIST is administered, on an individual basis, by the control group of children who had not received the training
child’s teacher. The child’s responses are written down (Nemerofsky, Carran, & Rosenberg, 1994).
Address correspondence to Alan G. Nemerofsky, CCBC Essex, 7201 Rossville Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21237; e-mail: [email protected]
1
6 Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures
Exhibit
What-If-Situations-Test
Child Code Number: