Welcome to Prevent It

We are looking for individuals who are worried about their sexual urges regarding children and want access to help anonymously online.

This research project aims to evaluate a new way to help people decrease their urges to act on sexual impulses involving children. These impulses could be using child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or engaging with a child online or in person.

We are testing the second version of Prevent It, a therapist-assisted online cognitive behavioral psychotherapy program. The first version of Prevent it proved to be effective, safe, and well-appreciated (see results). After the first clinical trial, we have revised the manual, taking into account clinical experience, patient feedback, and the statistical analyses of the patient data. The study is an academically initiated, global, randomised, waitlist controlled clinical trial.

Child sexual abuse, both online and offline, violates children's rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and causes a lot of damage to both the children and their relatives. The perpetrators of child sexual abuse or CSAM use can also experience suffering related to their urges or behavior, and risk both social and legal sanctions. Many of the existing programs targeting child sexual abuse are offered in correctional or forensic settings, and are thus mainly a method to reduce the risk of reoffending – not preventing abuse in the first place. This is the gap Prevent It wants to fill.

The study participation is free of charge, voluntary and anonymous. Recruitment for Prevent It is ongoing from November 2022 until June 2024. Currently, the english version of the treatment program is available. The Swedish, German, and Portuguese versions of the treatment program will start recruitment in February 2023. 

The study has been approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (Dnr 2022-03938-01) and it is conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki for research ethics.

Click here to register