Multi-College Bystander Efficacy Evaluation

1. 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.

The purpose: Investigators propose a researcher community collaborative to grow the next generation of VAW researchers. Through engaging multiple public universities as our research community partners (Goal 1), investigators have the added opportunity to partner as a researcher community to both a) conduct better research because a broader skill-set can be engaged and b) share our research skill-sets with more junior researchers.

Aim 2. Determine the efficacy of this collaborative to increase VAW prevention researchers' productivity defined as a) research skills and b) research communications measured as manuscript submissions, presentations, and publications. Both senior and junior researchers will be members of this collaborative and included in prospective qualitative and quantitative assessment.

Hypothesis 2: Participation within research communities will, over time, increase research productivity for both senior and more junior collaborative members relative to their productivity prior to study participation.

Expected outcomes:

(Aim 1) This study will identify components of bystander programs associated with greater violence prevention efficacy and greater cost-effectiveness. Currently colleges have limited data or experience to make informed decisions regarding selecting a bystander intervention, now required by SaVE. With the range of bystander program comparisons afforded by including up to 24 multiple college communities, investigators will have the ability to measure relative bystander program efficacy (which programs are associated with the greater reduction in violence), which programs are associated with lower program implementation costs, and the programs associated with the lower cost to violence reduction ratio.

(Aim 2) As both senior and junior researchers are engaged in college recruitment, mixed-method data collection, and data analyses, research skill-sets will be shared such that senior researchers learn newer research approaches and junior researchers learn skills in survey design and conduct, measurement and surveying on sensitive topics), data analyses, and research communication.

Benchmarks for Success will be measured: [Aim 1] as our ability to recruit 24 colleges, conduct key informant interviews and annual undergraduate surveys, and final analyses by Fall 2019; and [Aim 2] by our ability, as a collaborative, to recruit and retain VAW prevention researchers from identified colleges and provide mentoring and training needed to advance their research skills.