The Impact of Sources of Strength, a Primary Prevention Youth Suicide Program, on Sexual Violence Prevention Among Colorado High School Students

At present few programs systematically address broader social-ecological factors such as school-wide norms and youth-adult connectedness that research identifies as major drivers of sexual violence. To address this gap, this application proposes a large-scale RCT evaluation of Sources of Strength to evaluate for sexual violence perpetration outcomes. Sources of Strength is an evidence based program for youth suicide that trains student key leaders to strengthen social connectedness and healthy norms school-wide and is listed on the National Registry of Evidence Based Programs and Practices (NREPP). This project will expand the existing evidence base by evaluating Sources of Strength for sexual violence outcomes, which has never been done before. Twenty-four high schools will be recruited and stratified (rural or urban) and randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (a) immediate Sources of Strength intervention, (b) wait-list for Sources of Strength Implementation after 16 months.