Understanding Children’s Sexual Knowledge and Behavior from a Developmental Perspective

About This Webinar:

Children’s sexual development begins before birth and continues throughout childhood – similar to their social, emotional, cognitive, and moral development. Sexual development is also informed and guided by these other developmental domains. Thus, sexual development is much more than just body changes, sexual knowledge, and sexual behaviors. It also includes the development of boundaries, social skills, friendships, intimacy, and attachments. 

This webinar covers typical social, emotional, cognitive, and moral development in preschool (age 5 and under) and school-age (age 6 to 12) children and how development across these domains informs expected sexual knowledge and behavior. Typical sexual knowledge and behavior within these age ranges are discussed, as well as protective and supportive methods to help promote healthy sexual development. Factors impacting the development of problematic sexual behavior are covered, as well as methods to return a child to healthy sexual development.

On-Demand Recording:

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this webinar presentation, attendees will be able to: 

1. Recognize typical social, emotional, cognitive, and moral development
2. Discuss the impact of development on sexual knowledge and behavior
3. Identify strategies to support healthy behavior and factors that impact the development of PSB

Presenter

Benjamin Sigel, Ph.D., is a Licensed Psychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University. 

His areas of expertise include the assessment and treatment of children with a history of experiencing trauma and children with problematic sexual behavior.

Continuing Education (CE) Credit

Click the button below for CE credit
You will be prompted to complete an evaluation after which a link will be provided.

Continuing Education

OneOp Family Development will apply for the following Continuing Education (CE) credits:

• Social Work, Licensed Professional Counselors, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists: Programming approval for CE credits has been obtained for Social Work, Licensed Professional Counselors, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists from the UT Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work. **Note: Eligibility for CE credit expires on September 28, 2025.
• Certified Family Life Educators: This webinar offers Contact Hours from the National Council on Family Relations to CFLEs. 
• Case Managers: Case Management Continuing Education Credits from the Commission for Case Manager Certification are no longer available for this webinar. However, please click the button above to complete an evaluation to give us your feedback.
• Certificates of completion will also be available for providers interested in documenting their training activities.

For questions about CE opportunities, email OneOp FD at [email protected].

Event Materials

• Webinar Slides | PDF Handout
• Webinar Resources and Links | PDF
• Webinar Flyer | PDF

Cover Image: Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

This webinar is part of the Sexual Behavior in Children & Youth (SBCY) Series. For more information on other professional development opportunities on this topic, visit the series homepage!

SBCY Series – Homepage 

We realize that this event was inadvertently scheduled on Yom Kippur. We want to respect all religious observations and will continue to work to avoid an error like this. If you cannot attend for any reason, the webinar recording will be available on the event page along with the presentation materials and continuing education information.