Chinese "What If" Situations Test (CWIST)

Chinese "What If" Situations Test (CWIST) is a 6-item measure where children are presented with six simulated situations that aims to assess the children's self-protection skills and their ability to discriminate abusive/ abductive situations from non-abusive/ nonabductive situations. The measure is based on the "What If" Situations Test (Wurtele, Hughes, & Owens, 1998) and adapted for the local context and language (Chinese).

Scoring Procedures

The presented simulated situations are either okay (non-abusive/ nonabductive situations) or not okay (abusive/ abductive situations). Three situations were okay and three situations were not okay. If the respondent chooses the correct option, they receive 1 point. Scores were summed to form an Appropriate Situation Identification Score (ASIS; range = 0 to 3 points) and an Inappropriate Situation Identification Score (ISIS; range = 0 to 3 points). The ASIS subscale consists of items 1, 3 and 5. The ISIS subscale consists of items 2, 4 and 6. If the child identified a situation as “not okay,” four follow-up questions (i.e., what would you do; what would you say; who, if anyone, would you tell; and if you did tell someone, what would you say) were asked to assess the child’s self-protection/personal safety skills. Children’s responses to these four follow-up questions were rated according to the quality of the response, with scores ranging from 0 (ineffective/inappropriate response) to 2 (appropriate/assertive response). These responses were then summed for a maximum Total Skills Score (TSS) of 24.

Original Citation

Chen, Y. C., Fortson, B. L., & Tseng, K. W. (2012). Pilot evaluation of a sexual abuse prevention program for Taiwanese children. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 21(6), 621-645. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2012.726699