What-If Scenario Test

Abstract

The What-If-Situations-Test (WIST), developed by Alan G. Nemerofsky in 1986, is a specialized psychological scale designed to assess the knowledge and behavioral skills of preschool-age children regarding sexual abuse prevention programs. The WIST is an individually administered, performance-based measure comprising 29 items. These items are constructed directly from the learning objectives of the Children’s Primary Prevention Training Program.

The test evaluates a child’s understanding of critical concepts, including naming and locating private parts, the right to refuse unwanted touch, distinguishing between appropriate and inappropriate touching by various individuals (including physicians), recognizing coercion (such as gifts or bribes), and determining appropriate actions to take when feeling uncomfortable, afraid, or facing potential abuse situations. The WIST is utilized both as a pretest to establish baseline knowledge and as a posttest measure to evaluate the effectiveness and performance outcomes of prevention training programs.

Keywords

What-If-Situations-Test, WIST, Child sexual abuse prevention, Preschool assessment, Sexual victimization, Child safety skills, Performance measure, Situational assessment.

Authors

Alan G. Nemerofsky, Deborah T. Carran.

[quads id=5]

Purpose

The primary purpose of the What-If-Situations-Test (WIST) is to quantitatively measure the degree to which young children—specifically those in the preschool age range—have acquired and can apply the knowledge, concepts, and skills taught in structured sexual abuse prevention programs. By presenting children with hypothetical scenarios, the WIST assesses their ability to determine appropriate responses and actions in situations involving potential risk or abuse.

The scale serves as a crucial evaluation tool for prevention curricula, allowing researchers and practitioners to gauge the immediate impact and effectiveness of the training. It is specifically designed for use as a pretest before training commences and as a posttest following program completion to demonstrate learning gains.

Construct

The WIST is fundamentally a measure of the behavioral and conceptual knowledge construct related to sexual abuse prevention. It assesses a child’s comprehension of eleven distinct areas considered essential for reducing the risk of sexual victimization, as defined by the learning objectives of the Children’s Primary Prevention Training Program (Nemerofsky et al., 1986). These areas focus on both cognitive understanding (e.g., recognizing private body parts and appropriate boundaries) and behavioral response skills (e.g., disclosure, assertive refusal).

Specific conceptual domains addressed by the 29 items include:

• Appropriate identification of private body parts.
• Understanding the right to refuse touch.
• Differentiating between appropriate (e.g., medical examination) and inappropriate requests for touching.
• Recognizing and responding to attempts at bribery or coercion designed to facilitate secrecy or inappropriate touching.
• Identifying necessary actions (e.g., disclosure, seeking help) when experiencing fear or discomfort related to touching.

Validity

The validity of the WIST was supported through a study that employed an experimental design comparing children who completed a sexual abuse prevention training program against a control group who did not receive the training (Nemerofsky, Carran, & Rosenberg, 1994). Using the WIST pretest mean score as a covariate, a statistically significant difference was observed between the groups on the WIST posttest scores.

This finding demonstrates the scale’s ability to successfully discriminate between children who have received prevention training and those who have not, thus providing evidence of its sensitivity to change and construct validity in measuring the skills and concepts taught within the prevention curriculum. The higher posttest scores in the experimental group indicated that the WIST effectively captured the learning and behavioral knowledge gained from participation in the program.

Reliability

The internal consistency reliability of the WIST was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. In a large sample consisting of 1,044 preschool-age children (ranging from 3 to 6 years old), the calculated Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the WIST was reported as .83 (Nemerofsky, 1991). This value is generally considered indicative of good internal reliability, suggesting that the items within the 29-item test consistently measure the underlying construct of sexual abuse prevention skills and concepts.

Factor Analysis

Information regarding the specific factor structure or factor analysis of the What-If-Situations-Test was not provided in the source documentation.

Instrument

Test Type: Performance-based assessment; Structured interview format.

Format: Individually administered and verbally presented. Responses are recorded verbatim by the administrator and scored against a standardized key.

Language Available: English (Inferred from author affiliation and publication context).

Population Group: Children.

Age Group: 3 to 6 years old (Preschool-age).

Population Details: Children participating in or being evaluated for performance related to sexual abuse prevention programs.

Test Methodology: The test consists of 29 items. Administration requires approximately 15 minutes. Scoring ranges from 0 to 64 points, with higher scores reflecting greater understanding of prevention skills. Scoring is differentiated based on item type:

• Appropriateness Items (11 items): Scored 0 (wrong) or 1 (correct).
• Action/Response Items (17 items): Scored 1 point for assertive or motoric response, 2 points for disclosure, and 3 points for both assertive and disclosure responses.
• Naming Item (1 item): Scored 0 (wrong), 1 (partial answer), or 2 (complete correct answer).

Keywords

WIST, Alan G. Nemerofsky, Child psychology, Intervention evaluation, Psychological scale, Early childhood assessment, Disclosure skills.

[quads id=5]

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected] (Alan G. Nemerofsky)

Correspondence Address: Alan G. Nemerofsky, CCBC Essex, 7201 Rossville Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21237.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The initial version of the What-If-Situations-Test (WIST) was published in 1986 (Nemerofsky, 1986). Specific details regarding current licensing fees or permissions required for use were not provided in the source documentation, though the scale was originally distributed by the author.

Reference’s

• Conte, J. R., Rosen, C., & Saperstein, L. (1986). An analysis of programs to prevent the sexual victimization of children. Journal of Primary Prevention, 6, 141–155.

• Nemerofsky, A. G. (1986). The What-If-Situations-Test. Baltimore, MD: Author.

• Nemerofsky, A. G. (1991). Child sexual abuse prevention: Teacher and child variables affecting the learning of skills and concepts in a sexual abuse prevention program. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.

• Nemerofsky, A. G., Carran, D. T., & Rosenberg, L. A. (1994). Age variation in performance among preschool age children in a sexual abuse prevention program. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 3, 85–102.

• Nemerofsky, A. G., Sanford, H. J., Baer, B., Cage, M., & Wood, D. (1986). The children’s primary prevention training program. Baltimore, MD: Author.

• Wurtele, S. K. (1987). School-based sexual abuse prevention programs: A review. Child Abuse and Neglect, 11, 483–495.

[quads id=5]

Items of the What-If-Situations-Test

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Circle: Pretest Posttest

1. Tell me the names of your private parts.

2. What would you do if someone touched you in a way you did not like?

3. What would you do if someone touched you in a way that you liked?

4. What would you do if someone asked you to keep a secret?

5. What would you do if someone tried to touch your private parts?

6. What would you do if someone touched you in a way that made you feel uncomfortable?

7. Is it OK for a mom or dad to give you a hug if you want one? (Circle) Yes No

8. Do you have to let anyone touch you on your private parts? (Circle) Yes No

9. What would you do if someone touched your private parts?

10. What would you do if someone said they would give you a present if you would keep a secret?

11. If someone makes a child touch their private parts:

    1. Did the child do anything wrong? Yes No

    2. Is it the child’s fault? Yes No

    3. Should the child tell? Yes No

    4. Should the child ask for help? Yes No

12. What would you do if someone asked you to touch their private parts?

13. What would you do if someone asked you to keep a secret about touching private parts?

14. What would you do if someone said they would give you a present if you would touch their private parts?

15. What would you do if someone made you touch their private parts?

16. If someone touches a child’s private parts:

    1. Did the child do anything wrong? Yes No

    2. Is it the child’s fault? Yes No

    3. Should the child tell? Yes No

    4. Should the child ask for help? Yes No

17. Would it be OK for your doctor to look at your private parts if you were hurt there? Yes No

18. What would you do if you were scared or confused or felt uncomfortable?

19. What would you say if someone asked you to touch their private parts?

20. What should a child do if someone touched his/her private parts and promised not to do it again?

21. If someone touched your private parts:

    1. What would you say?

    2. What would you do?

    3. Who would you tell?