Growing Researcher and College Communities Supporting Violence Prevention Research

A. SPECIFIC AIMS Goal 1. Grow Colleges as Communities for Primary Prevention of Violence Against Women Research The opportunity: Because the 2013 Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act1 (SaVE) now requires bystander training in all publicly funded colleges and universities (hereafter colleges), a "natural experiment" presents itself to determine what components of bystander interventions have greater efficacy. Inclusion of multiple college communities (n=24) provides sufficient statistical power for these comparisons. The timing of this U01 (RFA-CE-15-003) is strategically important for the work investigators propose: to evaluate the efficacy of bystander interventions components (BIC) to reduce violence against women (VAW: operationally defined as intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV)). Investigators propose a quasi-experimental design using fractional factorials. Data to measure program efficacy for bystander and violent behavior outcomes will be obtained from student surveys and campus crime data. Key informant interviews with college administrators responsible for selection and implementation of bystander programs will describe components and attributes of bystander programs important for colleges' adoption, implementation and retention of bystander programs over the 4 years.

The purpose of this quasi-experimental, multi-college study is to evaluate the relative efficacy of newly implemented bystander interventions over time. Because all colleges must adopt an intervention, comparisons will be made prospectively before and after implementation and across program interventions.

Aim 1. Compare the relative efficacy of bystander interventions to a) increase bystander efficacy and behaviors, b) reduce violence acceptance, c) reduce violence victimization and perpetration, and d) increase program cost effectiveness. Three BIC comparisons will be: exclusively online training, Green Dot, and other skills-based, interactive bystander programs. Whether training is mandatory will also be evaluated.

Hypothesis 1: Relative to colleges implementing exclusively online training, colleges implementing Green Dot (or other skills-based programs) will significantly a) increase bystander efficacy and behaviors, b) reduce violence acceptance, c) reduce violence victimization and perpetration, and d) demonstrate greater cost effectiveness to reduce VAW.

Goal 2. Grow Communities of Violence Against Women Prevention Researchers The opportunity: This "natural experiment" also offers a unique opportunity for more senior VAW prevention researchers to share their expertise with each other and with more junior researchers, i.e. grow a researcher community. Team science is increasingly required in violence prevention research yet funding mechanisms supporting cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary career development grants in violence prevention are limited.