Child Sex TraffickingNCT05722769
CSTOP Now! Child Sex Trafficking Stops With You
A study testing CSTOP Now! and Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky Online Training in people with Child Sex Trafficking, run by Ann Coker at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
Focus: Intervention \& prevention of child commercial sexual exploitation or trafficking (CST) In Kentucky, familial SU/D increases risk of CST. Primary goal: Implement and evaluate effectiveness of multi-level bystander-informed program (CSTOP Now!) aimed at Kentucky public middle schools for staff. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 21 to 65 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Child Sex Trafficking
- What is being tested?
- CSTOP Now! and Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky Online Training
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 529 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 19 Sep 2023to 31 Dec 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 21 to 65 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Kentucky middle school staff in a public school
- Kentucky middle school staff in the intervention or attention control schools/counties.
Who cannot join
- Kentucky middle school staff not in intervention or attention control schools/counties.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky, 40536-0293
About this study
Official title: RCT to Evaluate Bystander-informed CSTOP Now! to Prevent Child Sex Trafficking in Kentucky Middle Schools
Focus: Intervention \& prevention of child commercial sexual exploitation or trafficking (CST) In Kentucky, familial SU/D increases risk of CST.
Primary goal: Implement and evaluate effectiveness of multi-level bystander-informed program (CSTOP Now!) aimed at Kentucky public middle schools for staff.
Read the detailed description
Randomization will occur at the Kentucky county level among 50 counties with at least 2 middle schools for a middle school-based cluster RCT set in 50 of Kentucky's 120 counties. Middle schools in half (n=25) of the 50 Kentucky counties will be randomized to the intervention condition, while middle schools in the remaining 25 Kentucky counties will be randomly assigned to the attention control. We have selected counties that are similar in population size, demographics (% white, % <18 years of age, and % living in poverty, using 2019 Census estimates). Within each county, all middle schools (>200 across 50 counties) will be invited to participate in this RCT.
Participating staff will be emailed a link that will take them to a description of the study. Participation will involve receipt of online training, as randomized at the county level, and completing surveys immediately before receipt of the first training and at the end of each of school terms annually.
Aim 1. Evaluate the effectiveness of child sex trafficking (CST) prevention training implemented among middle school staff randomized, at the Kentucky county level, to change middle school staff:
- Knowledge of child sexual exploitation and trafficking (hypothesize greater knowledge in Intervention versus Control),
- Attitudes towards child sexual exploitation and trafficking (hypothesize lower stigma in Intervention versus Control),
- Willingness and efficacy to intervene (hypothesize greater efficacy in Intervention versus Control),
- Use of 'bystander' actions to thwart child sexual exploitation and trafficking risk (hypothesize increase actions in Intervention versus Control),
- Use child sex trafficking screening, referral and reporting (hypothesize increase actions in Intervention versus Control),
Aim 2. Evaluate effectiveness of child sex trafficking mass media intervention (Intervention versus Control), randomized and measured at the Kentucky county-level, based on middle school staff survey data:
- To increase child sexual exploitation and trafficking screening \& reporting in short term (Years 1-2),
- Begin to reduce child sexual exploitation and trafficking rates in longer term (Year 3-4) Analyses for both aims will be adjusted for school and county-level attributes
- Conditions
- Child Sex Trafficking
- Being tested
- CSTOP Now!, Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky Online Training
- Keywords
- Prevention
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
CSTOP Now!Behavioural
Child sex trafficking stops with you. Implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-level bystander-informed program (CSTOP Now!) aimed at Kentucky public middle school staff. Participants will be trained to use the See It To Stop It Indicator Tool (SITSII) by using tiers of concern (clear concern, possible concern, and monitor of emerging concern). The SITSII tool directs the bystander actions to Decide, Directly Intervene, Disrupt, Delegate, and Document.
Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky Online TrainingBehavioural
The Kentucky State Police, in association with Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky, have developed videos we invite active comparator schools to review which also include how to identify and report child sex trafficking.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| CSTOP Now! Child Sex Trafficking Stops with You | Experimental | For this RCT, our research team has created CSTOP Now! online, interactive learning management system training. This CSTOP Now! online training will be offer to middle school staff in Kentucky counties randomized to this experimental intervention arm. This training seeks to provide middle school staff with information and resources to identify, intervene in, and prevent child sex trafficking (CST). This training will provide middle school staff with the knowledge, skills, and efficacy to intervene with children at risk of or experiencing CST. This training will also provide staff with skills to disrupt harmful attitudes or misinformation about CST. Receives: Behavioral: CSTOP Now! |
| Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky Online Training | Active comparator | With input from Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky, our team developed training delivered via LMS and designed to identify child sex trafficking among middle school students. Only for middle school staff in counties randomized to the active comparator, we offer this online training using the same approach as that for staff in the intervention condition. Receives: Behavioral: Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky Online Training |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Knowledge and Attitudes toward Child Sex Trafficking (CST) among middle school staff
Knowledge of CST to include legal and behavioral definitions, risk factors, signs and symptoms, and awareness CST in staff's school or community Attitudes toward CST include stereotypes of those trafficked, their families and consumers, staff's empathy and attitudes toward helping those trafficked, self-efficacy to address CST with students or staff.
Sex Trafficking Attitudes Scale, Human Trafficking Myths Scale, Adaptation of Self-Confidence and Screening Behaviors for Domestic Violence Scale
Measured: Year 2-Year 4
Secondary outcomes (1)
Use of bystander actions and See It To Stop It Indicator (SITSII) screening tool
Use of active bystander behaviors to prevent or stop child sex trafficking.
Bystander behaviors to include the number of events reported by middle school staff to include directly intervene, delegate, disrupt, and document of behaviors to prevent child sex trafficking or report potential child sex trafficking.
Based on Banyard, Plante, Moynihan (2005) Bystander Efficacy Scale and adapted for child sex trafficking.
Measured: Year 2-Year 4
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted10 Feb 2023
- Study start19 Sep 2023
- Primary completion8 May 2026
- Study completion31 Dec 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Child Sex TraffickingStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Screening
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Randomization at Kentucky County level. Schools in counties randomized to the intervention receive the online intervention training. Schools in counties randomized to the attention control receive the attention control training.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 529 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Ann Coker
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Responsible party
- Sponsor-investigator, Ann Coker, University of Kentucky
- Investigators
- Ann L. Coker, PhD, MPH, Principal investigator, University of Kentucky
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05722769
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 77232
- Other IDs
- U01CE003394
- Status last verified
- Oct 2026
- First submitted
- 10 Jan 2023
- Last updated
- 5 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 5 Oct 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- RCT to Evaluate Bystander-informed CSTOP Now! to Prevent Child Sex Trafficking in Kentucky Middle Schools
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05722769
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 77232
- Conditions
- Child Sex Trafficking
- Keywords
- Prevention
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 529 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Ann CokerUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Study start
- 19 Sep 2023 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 8 May 2026 (actual)
- Study completion
- 31 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 10 Feb 2023 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Focus: Intervention \& prevention of child commercial sexual exploitation or trafficking (CST) In Kentucky, familial SU/D increases risk of CST.
Primary goal: Implement and evaluate effectiveness of multi-level bystander-informed program (CSTOP Now!) aimed at Kentucky public middle schools for staff.
Detailed description
Randomization will occur at the Kentucky county level among 50 counties with at least 2 middle schools for a middle school-based cluster RCT set in 50 of Kentucky's 120 counties. Middle schools in half (n=25) of the 50 Kentucky counties will be randomized to the intervention condition, while middle schools in the remaining 25 Kentucky counties will be randomly assigned to the attention control. We have selected counties that are similar in population size, demographics (% white, % <18 years of age, and % living in poverty, using 2019 Census estimates). Within each county, all middle schools (>200 across 50 counties) will be invited to participate in this RCT.
Participating staff will be emailed a link that will take them to a description of the study. Participation will involve receipt of online training, as randomized at the county level, and completing surveys immediately before receipt of the first training and at the end of each of school terms annually.
Aim 1. Evaluate the effectiveness of child sex trafficking (CST) prevention training implemented among middle school staff randomized, at the Kentucky county level, to change middle school staff:
- Knowledge of child sexual exploitation and trafficking (hypothesize greater knowledge in Intervention versus Control),
- Attitudes towards child sexual exploitation and trafficking (hypothesize lower stigma in Intervention versus Control),
- Willingness and efficacy to intervene (hypothesize greater efficacy in Intervention versus Control),
- Use of 'bystander' actions to thwart child sexual exploitation and trafficking risk (hypothesize increase actions in Intervention versus Control),
- Use child sex trafficking screening, referral and reporting (hypothesize increase actions in Intervention versus Control),
Aim 2. Evaluate effectiveness of child sex trafficking mass media intervention (Intervention versus Control), randomized and measured at the Kentucky county-level, based on middle school staff survey data:
- To increase child sexual exploitation and trafficking screening \& reporting in short term (Years 1-2),
- Begin to reduce child sexual exploitation and trafficking rates in longer term (Year 3-4) Analyses for both aims will be adjusted for school and county-level attributes
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Screening
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Randomization at Kentucky County level. Schools in counties randomized to the intervention receive the online intervention training. Schools in counties randomized to the attention control receive the attention control training.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| CSTOP Now! Child Sex Trafficking Stops with You | Experimental | Behavioral: CSTOP Now!For this RCT, our research team has created CSTOP Now! online, interactive learning management system training. This CSTOP Now! online training will be offer to middle school staff in Kentucky counties randomized to this experimental intervention arm. This training seeks to provide middle school staff with information and resources to identify, intervene in, and prevent child sex trafficking (CST). This training will provide middle school staff with the knowledge, skills, and efficacy to intervene with children at risk of or experiencing CST. This training will also provide staff with skills to disrupt harmful attitudes or misinformation about CST. |
| Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky Online Training | Active comparator | Behavioral: Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky Online TrainingWith input from Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky, our team developed training delivered via LMS and designed to identify child sex trafficking among middle school students. Only for middle school staff in counties randomized to the active comparator, we offer this online training using the same approach as that for staff in the intervention condition. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 21 to 65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Kentucky middle school staff in a public school
- Kentucky middle school staff in the intervention or attention control schools/counties.
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Kentucky middle school staff not in intervention or attention control schools/counties.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| CSTOP Now!Child sex trafficking stops with you. Implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-level bystander-informed program (CSTOP Now!) aimed at Kentucky public middle school staff. Participants will be trained to use the See It To Stop It Indicator Tool (SITSII) by using tiers of concern (clear concern, possible concern, and monitor of emerging concern). The SITSII tool directs the bystander actions to Decide, Directly Intervene, Disrupt, Delegate, and Document. | Behavioural | CSTOP Now! Child Sex Trafficking Stops with You |
| Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky Online TrainingThe Kentucky State Police, in association with Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky, have developed videos we invite active comparator schools to review which also include how to identify and report child sex trafficking. | Behavioural | Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky Online Training |
Primary outcome
Knowledge and Attitudes toward Child Sex Trafficking (CST) among middle school staff
Time frame: Year 2-Year 4
Knowledge of CST to include legal and behavioral definitions, risk factors, signs and symptoms, and awareness CST in staff's school or community Attitudes toward CST include stereotypes of those trafficked, their families and consumers, staff's empathy and attitudes toward helping those trafficked, self-efficacy to address CST with students or staff. Sex Trafficking Attitudes Scale, Human Trafficking Myths Scale, Adaptation of Self-Confidence and Screening Behaviors for Domestic Violence Scale
1 secondary outcome
Use of bystander actions and See It To Stop It Indicator (SITSII) screening tool
Time frame: Year 2-Year 4
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 5 Oct 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
Related trials for Child Sex Trafficking
Recruiting
Rigorous Evaluation of the READY to Stand Curriculum to Prevent the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
Sex Trafficking, Sex Crimes
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Ann L. Coker, PhD, MPH principal investigator
University of Kentucky
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing CSTOP Now! and Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky Online Training in people with Child Sex Trafficking, run by Ann Coker at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 5 Oct 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Knowledge and Attitudes toward Child Sex Trafficking (CST) among middle school staff (time frame: Year 2-Year 4). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 5 Oct 2026.