Evaluation of Circles of Safety

Evaluation of Circles of Safety for the Primary Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse

Using a matched cluster randomized control design, the proposed study will evaluate a child sexual abuse (CSA) primary prevention strategy, Circles of Safety®. League leadership, staff, and coaches within youth sports will be focal participants. Outcomes include CSA among youth athletes served, protective and inappropriate behaviors from coaches & league leaders, as well as knowledge of and perceived ability to identify and address CSA and resource-seeking behavior.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Child Abuse Sexual
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Circles of Safety

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1500
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Melissa Bright; Phone Number: 904-728-1020; Email: mbright@scienceofviolence.org

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32609
      • Recruiting
      • Center for Violence Prevention Research
      • Contact: Melissa Bright, PhD; Phone Number: 9047281020; Email: mbright@scienceofviolence.org

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants must be at least 18 years of age.
• Participants must be a youth sports leader or coach.
• Participants must be an English speaker.
• Participants must be able to provide consent for themselves.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children are not included as direct participants in this study.
• Anyone who is not able to provide consent because they are a non-English speaker or have cognitive impairment.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Complete Circles of Safety Training Program; participants will be asked to complete the Circles of Safety training program	Behavioral: Circles of Safety; The Circles of Safety program is a child sexual abuse (CSA) primary prevention program that provides direct education to organization leaders and adults who interact with youth, tailored website content for organizations that serve youth, and helpline services for all individuals affected by CSA including not only victims and their families but also individuals who think they may have or will sexually abuse a child.
No Intervention: Control; participants will not be asked to complete the Circles of Safety training program

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Rates of disclosed child sexual abuse	This will be measured at baseline and T2 (baseline + 90 days)
Rates of potentially harmful sexual behaviors from coaches and staff	This will be measured at baseline and T2 (baseline + 90 days)
Staff and coaches' knowledge of CSA	This will be measured at baseline and T2 (baseline + 90 days)
Staff and coaches perceived self-efficacy in identifying CSA	This will be measured at baseline and T2 (baseline + 90 days)
Rates of preventive behaviors among staff and coaches	This will be measured at baseline and T2 (baseline + 90 days)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Program reach	Measured through study completion, an average 1 year
implementation consistency	Measured through study completion, an average 1 year
mechanisms of intervention success	Measured through study completion, an average 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Center for Violence Prevention Research Inc
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Melissa Bright, PhD, Center for Violence Prevention Research

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 19, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 7, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): April 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 13, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 7, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: CE22-003; U01CE003409 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No