The Effect of an Intervention Based on Implicit Theories of Personality on the Prevention of Adolescent Dating Violence
Condition: Dating Violence
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study evaluates the efficacy of an intervention based on the Implicit Theories of
      Personality (ITP) to prevent dating violence in Spanish adolescents. Half of participants
      received the ITP intervention, while the other half received an educational intervention.
    

Detailed description: 
      Intimate partner violence is a problem arising in adolescence, which causes severe suffering.
      Since the first romantic relationships are established during adolescence, implementation of
      preventive interventions during this developmental stage opens a window of opportunity for
      the prevention of partner aggression. Previous prevention programs have shown efficacy in
      modifying cognitions and attitudes related to dating violence, although behavioral changes
      have been reported in very few cases. Recent innovative brief interventions based on changing
      entity theories of personality (i.e., the belief that people cannot change and personal
      characteristics are fixed; Miu & Yeager, 2015) have provided good results for preventing
      depression and other behavioral problems in adolescents. Therefore, the principal aim of this
      study is to examine whether a brief one-hour intervention based on promoting the idea that
      people can change shows efficacy in the prevention of perpetration and victimization of
      dating aggressive behaviors (both online -cyber dating abuse- and traditional -face-to-face
      dating aggression-) in adolescents. Additionally, other objective of the project is to
      examine whether gender moderates the effects of the intervention in changes in dating
      violence. The study involves the evaluation of the intervention in a sample of around 400
      adolescents (13-18 years), randomly allocated to experimental and control conditions. It is a
      field experiment conducted in high schools and involves multiple measures over time
      (self-reports and parent reports). In summary, the project aims to respond to the challenge
      of health and wellness in the population through a randomized controlled trial with multiple
      sources of measure and from a biopsychosocial perspective. The ITP intervention has the
      potential to become a universal intervention to help reduce the rates of adolescent dating
      violence.
    

Intervention name(s): Incremental theory of personality; Educational Intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Other
Intervention description(s): The experimental intervention (originally developed by David S. Yeager and colleagues) teaches that individuals have the potential to change. It has three main parts. First, participants are asked to read scientific studies that provide evidence that behaviors are controlled by "thoughts and feelings in brains," and that pathways in the brain have the potential to be changed under the right circumstances. Second, participants read several testimonials purportedly written by upperclassmen to bring credibility to the ITP. Finally, participants are asked to write their own version of such a narrative. This self-persuasive writing exercise has been shown to facilitate the internalization of the intervention message, building on a long line of research on cognitive dissonance.; The educational intervention involved scientific information about the human brain. It was designed to be parallel to the experimental intervention and, hence, it has also three main parts. First, participants are asked to read scientific information about the different areas of the brain and their specialties. Second, participants read several testimonials written by upperclassmen about their transition to high school and how their brains help them to adapt to the new space and all the physical differences of the building and the classes. Finally, participants are asked to write a letter to another student explaining the main things he or she has learned about the brain and thinks are important for adapting to the new physical environment in high school.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Participants were randomized in a 1:1 ratio blocked by gender to one of two groups: experimental condition (ITP intervention) versus control condition (educational intervention) in parallel for the duration of the study.
Masking: Double (Participant, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Adolescence; Prevention; Aggressive behavior; Dating Violence