Top

Published in:

Open Access 01-04-2019 | Original Article

Bystander Program Effectiveness to Reduce Violence Acceptance: RCT in High Schools

Authors: Ann L. Coker, Heather M. Bush, Candace J. Brancato, Emily R. Clear, Eileen A. Recktenwald

Published in: Journal of Family Violence | Issue 3/2019

Abstract

Bystander-based violence prevention interventions have shown efficacy to reduce dating violence and sexual violence acceptance at the individual level yet no large randomized controlled trial (RCT) has evaluated this effect at the high-school level and over time. This rigorous cluster-randomized controlled trial addresses this gap by evaluating intervention effectiveness at both school and individual levels. Kentucky high schools were randomized to intervention or control conditions. In intervention schools educators provided school-wide ‘Green Dot’ presentations and bystander training with student popular opinion leaders. Each spring from 2010 to 2014; 73,044 students completed anonymous surveys with no missing data on relevant outcomes. Dating violence and sexual violence acceptance were the primary outcomes for this analysis. At the school level, slopes from linear mixed models using averaged school-level dating violence acceptance (condition–time, p < 0.001) and sexual violence acceptance (condition–time interaction, p < 0.001) differed indicating a significant reduction in the violence acceptance in the intervention relative to control schools over time and specifically in years 3 and 4 when ‘Green Dot’ was fully implemented. Analyses based on student’s self-reported receipt of ‘Green Dot’ training by condition confirmed the school level finding of significant reductions in both dating violence and sexual violence acceptance in years 3 and 4 for both males and females. In this RCT we find evidence that the bystander-based violence prevention intervention ‘Green Dot’ works, as hypothesized and as implemented, to reduce acceptance of dating violence and sexual violence at the school and individual levels.

Banyard, V. L. (2008). Measurement and correlates of pro-social by-stander behavior: The case of interpersonal violence. Violence and Victims, 23(1), 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.23.1.83.CrossRef

Banyard, V. L., & Moynihan, M. M. (2011). Variation in bystander behavior related to sexual and intimate partner violence prevention: Correlates in a sample of college students. Psychology of Violence, 1(4), 287–301.CrossRef

Banyard, V. L., Plante, E. G., & Moynihan, M. M. (2004). Bystander education: Bringing a broader community perspective to sexual violence prevention. Journal of Community Psychology, 32(1), 61–79. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.10078.CrossRef

Banyard, V. L., Moynihan, M. M., & Plante, E. G. (2007). Sexual violence prevention through bystander education: An experimental evaluation. Journal of Community Psychology, 35(4), 463–481. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20159.CrossRef

Berkowitz, A. D. (2002). Fostering men’s responsibility for preventing sexual assault. In P. A. Schewe (Ed.), Preventing violence in relationships: Interventions across the life span (pp. 163–196). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRef

Brown, A. L., Banyard, V. L., & Moynihan, M. M. (2014). College students as helpful bystanders against sexual violence: Gender, race, and year in college moderate the impact of perceived peer norms. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 38(3), 350–362.CrossRef

Burn, S. (2009). A situational model of sexual assault prevention through bystander intervention. Sex Roles, 60(11–12), 779–792. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9581-5.CrossRef

Chekroun, P., & Brauer, M. (2002). The bystander effect and social control behavior: The effect of the presence of others on people’s reactions to norm violations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 32(6), 853–867. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.126.CrossRef

Clark, R. D., & Word, L. E. (1974). Where is the apathetic bystander? Situational characteristics of the emergency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29(3), 279–287. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0036000.CrossRef

Coker, A. L., Cook-Craig, P. G., Williams, C. M., Fisher, B. S., Clear, E. R., Garcia, L. S., & Hegge, L. M. (2011). Evaluation of green dot: An active bystander intervention to reduce sexual violence on college campuses. Violence Against Women, 17(6), 777–796. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801211410264.CrossRefPubMed

Coker, A. L., Fisher, B. S., Bush, H. M., Swan, S. C., Williams, C. M., Clear, E. R., & DeGue, S. (2015). Evaluation of the green dot bystander intervention to reduce interpersonal violence among college students across three campuses. Violence Against Women, 21(12), 1507–1527. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801214545284.CrossRefPubMed

Coker, A. L., Bush, H. M., Fisher, B. S., Swan, S. C., Williams, C. M., Clear, E. R., & DeGue, S. (2016). Multi-college bystander intervention evaluation for violence prevention. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 50(3), 295–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.08.034.CrossRefPubMed

Coker, A. L., Bush, H. M., Cook-Craig, P. G., DeGue, S. A., Clear, E. R., Brancato, C. J., Fisher, B. S., & Recktenwald, E. A. (2017). RCT testing bystander effectiveness to reduce violence. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 52(5), 566–578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.01.020.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Cook-Craig, P. G., Coker, A. L., Clear, E. R., Garcia, L. S., Bush, H. M., Brancato, C. J., Williams, C. M., & Fisher, B. S. (2014). Challenge and opportunity in evaluating a diffusion-based active bystanding prevention program: Green dot in high schools. Violence Against Women, 20(10), 1179–1202. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801214551288.CrossRefPubMed

Darley, J. M., & Latané, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8(4), 377–383. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0025589.CrossRefPubMed

DeGue, S., Valle, L. A., Holt, M. K., Massetti, G. M., Matjasko, J., & Tharp, A. (2014). A systematic review of primary prevention programs for sexual violence perpetration. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19(4), 346–362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2014.05.004.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Foshee, V., Bauman, K., Arriaga, X., Helms, R., Koch, G., & Linder, G. (1998). An evaluation of safe dates, an adolescent dating violence protection program. American Journal of Public Health, 88(1), 45–50. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.88.1.45.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Foubert, J. D. (2000). The longitudinal effects of a rape-prevention program on fraternity men’s attitudes, behavioral intent, and behavior. Journal of American College Health, 48(4), 158–163. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448480009595691.CrossRefPubMed

Gidycz, C. A., Orchowski, L. M., & Berkowitz, A. D. (2011). Preventing sexual aggression among college men: An evaluation of a social norms and bystander intervention program. Violence Against Women, 17(6), 720–742. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801211409727.CrossRefPubMed

Johnson, R., Gilchrist, E., Beech, A. R., Weston, S., Takriti, R., & Freeman, R. (2006). A psychometric typology of U.K. domestic violence offenders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21(10), 1270–1285. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260506291655.CrossRefPubMed

Kauermann, G., & Carroll, R. J. (2001). A note on the efficiency of sandwich covariance matrix estimation. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 96(456), 1387–1396. https://doi.org/10.1198/016214501753382309.CrossRef

Kelly, J. A. (2004). Popular opinion leaders and HIV prevention peer education: Resolving discrepant findings, and implications for the development of effective community programmes. AIDS Care, 16(2), 139–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540120410001640986.CrossRefPubMed

Latané, B., & Darley, J. M. (1970). The unresponsive bystander: Why doesn’t he help? New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

McMahon, S. (2010). Rape myth beliefs and bystander attitudes among incoming college students. Journal of American College Health, 59(1), 3–11.CrossRefPubMed

Miller, E., Tancredi, D. J., McCauley, H. L., Decker, M. R., Virata, M. C. D., Anderson, H. A., Stetkevick, N., et al. (2012). “Coaching boys into men”: A cluster-randomized controlled trial of a dating violence prevention program. Journal of Adolescent Health, 51(5), 431–438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.01.018.CrossRefPubMed

Miller, E., Tancredi, D. J., McCauley, H. L., Decker, M. R., Virata, M. C. D., Anderson, H. A., O’Connor, B., & Silverman, J. G. (2013). One-year follow-up of a coach-delivered dating violence prevention program: A cluster randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 45(1), 108–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2013.03.007.CrossRefPubMed

Moynihan, M. M., & Banyard, V. L. (2008). Community responsibility for preventing sexual violence: A pilot with campus Greeks and intercollegiate athletes. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 36(1–2), 23–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/10852350802022274.CrossRefPubMed

Moynihan, M. M., Banyard, V. L., Arnold, J. S., Eckstein, R. P., & Stapleton, J. G. (2010). Engaging intercollegiate athletes in preventing and intervening in sexual and intimate partner violence. Journal of American College Health, 59(3), 197–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2010.502195.CrossRefPubMed

Palmer, J. E., Nicksa, S. C., & McMahon, S. (2016). Does who you know affect how you act? The impact of relationships on bystander intervention in interpersonal violence situations. Journal of interpersonal violence., 088626051662829. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516628292.

Payne, D. L., Lonsway, K. A., & Fitzgerald, L. F. (1999). Rape myth acceptance: Exploration of its structure and its measurement using the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale. Journal of Research in Personality, 33(1), 27–68.CrossRef

Polanin, J. R., Espelage, D. L., & Pigott, T. D. (2012). A meta-analysis of school-based bullying prevention programs’ effects on bystander intervention behavior. School Psychology Review, 41(1), 47.

Potter, S. J. (2016). Reducing sexual assault on campus: Lessons from the movement to prevent drunk driving. American Journal of Public Health, 106(5), 822–829. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303082.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Robinson-Cimpian, J. P. (2014). Inaccurate estimation of disparities due to mischievous responders: Several suggestions to assess conclusions. Educational Researcher, 43(4), 171–185. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X14534297.CrossRef

Rogers, E. M., & Cartano, D. G. (1962). Methods of measuring opinion leadership. Public Opinion Quarterly, 26(3), 435–441. https://doi.org/10.1086/267118.CrossRef

Rushton, J. P., & Campbell, A. C. (1977). Modeling, vicarious reinforcement and extraversion on blood donating in adults: Immediate and long-term effects. European Journal of Social Psychology, 7(3), 297–306. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420070304.CrossRef

Taylor, B. G., Stein, N. D., Mumford, E. A., & Woods, D. (2013). Shifting boundaries: An experimental evaluation of a dating violence prevention program in middle schools. Prevention Science, 14(1), 64–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0293-2.CrossRefPubMed

Tharp, A. T., Burton, T., Freire, K., Hall, D. M., Harrier, S., Latzman, N. E., Luo, F., Niolon, P. H., Ramirez, M., & Vagi, K. J. (2011). Dating matters™: Strategies to promote healthy teen relationships. Journal of Women's Health, 20(12), 1761–1765. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2011.31.CrossRefPubMed

The American Association for Public Opinion Research. (2015). Standard definitions: Final dispositions of case codes and outcome rates for surveys. 8th edition. AAPOR.

Whitted, K. S., & Dupper, D. R. (2005). Best practices for preventing or reducing bullying in schools. Children & Schools, 27(3), 167–175. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/27.3.167.CrossRef

Yule, K., & Grych, J. (2017). College students’ perceptions of barriers to bystander intervention. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 088626051770676. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517706764.

Title: Bystander Program Effectiveness to Reduce Violence Acceptance: RCT in High Schools
Authors: Ann L. Coker
Heather M. Bush
Candace J. Brancato
Emily R. Clear
Eileen A. Recktenwald
Publication date: 01-04-2019
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Family Violence / Issue 3/2019
Print ISSN: 0885-7482
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2851
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-018-9961-8

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Bystander Program Effectiveness to Reduce Violence Acceptance: RCT in High Schools

Abstract

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 3/2019

The Association Between Distinct Categories of Child Abuse Experiences and Dating Violence in Early Adolescence

Rethinking Campus Sexual Assault: We must Be Leaders in Anti-Bias Practices, Civil Rights and Human Rights

Preventing Sexual Violence on Campus in the U.S.: Four Thought Experiments

Spousal Violence and Evaluations of Police Performance in Canada: Does Police Contact Matter?

“She Is his Girlfriend—I Believe this Is a Different Situation”: Gender Differences in Perceptions of the Legality of Intimate Partner Rape

Civil Protection Orders and their Courtroom Context: the Impact of Gatekeepers on Legal Decisions