Teaching abduction prevention skills to children using a one‐on‐one training setting

Three preschoolers without disabilities learned stranger-danger skills.

Trainers used Behavioral Skills Training: explain, model, practice, and praise.

They added in-situ training later if the child did not pass a real-life test.

Two kids reached mastery after BST alone.

The third child only passed after extra practice in the real world.

All three finally said “No,” walked away, and told an adult when a stranger tried to lure them.

Reis et al. (2022) looks like a clash. They taught girls with mild intellectual disability in a group. The girls learned the rules but still went with the stranger in a test.

The difference is the kids. Berube worked with typical preschoolers one-on-one. Reis worked with older girls who have ID in a group lecture. One-on-one BST beats group talk for kids who need more support.

Laske et al. (2024) and García-Villamisar et al. (2017) show the same BST steps work for other skills—public speaking and reading—so the method keeps winning across ages and goals.

Use BST first for safety lessons in preschool or clinic. Watch the post-test. If the child still goes with the stranger, roll straight into in-situ training: practice in the store, playground, or parking lot. Keep the cycle until the child passes three real-life probes. That small tweak closes the gap for the one kid who needs it.