Evaluation Of "Coaching Boys Into Men" (CBIM) Program
Condition: Violence; Abuse
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Despite the high prevalence of adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) reported among adolescent
      females and substantial reports of perpetration by young males, effective prevention programs
      to prevent ARA are limited. Male athletes are an important target for prevention efforts
      given their higher rates of abuse perpetration compared to non-athlete peers as well as their
      social influence among their peers. This cluster-randomized school-based investigation
      examines the effectiveness of a program for the primary prevention of ARA. "Coaching Boys
      into Men" (CBIM) is a social norms theory-based program intended to alter norms that foster
      ARA perpetration, promote bystander intervention, and reduce ARA perpetration by engaging
      athletic coaches as positive role models to deliver violence prevention scripts and tools to
      high school age male athletes. Coaches receive a 60-minute training session to administer the
      intervention to their athletes via 11 lessons across a sport season. Trained high school
      coaches talk to their male athletes about 1) what constitutes disrespectful and harmful vs.
      respectful behaviors, 2) promoting more gender-equitable attitudes, and 3) modeling bystander
      intervention when disrespectful behaviors toward women and girls are witnessed. The current
      investigation evaluates the intervention in 16 urban high schools randomized either to
      receive the CBIM program (i.e., intervention schools, n=8) or to a control condition (n=8).
      Baseline computer-based surveys are collected for all intervention and control site student
      athletes entering grades 9 through 12 at the start of each of three sports seasons across
      Year 1 (Time 1). Follow up surveys are collected for these same athletes at the end of their
      first sports season (Time 2). Participating athletes in grades 9 - 11 at baseline are
      re-surveyed 12 months after Time 1 to examine the longer term effects of the CBIM
      intervention (Time 3; N of athletes completing all 3 waves of data collection = 1500).
      Primary assessment of intervention effects are based on intent-to-treat estimates, utilizing
      generalized linear mixed models to account for clustering arising from school randomization.
      Hypothesized outcomes for male athletes include a) an increase in recognition of what
      constitutes abusive behaviors, b) more gender-equitable attitudes, c) an increase in
      intentions and reports of bystander intervention regarding ARA, and through these
      intermediate outcomes, d) a decrease in perpetration of ARA among adolescent male athletes.
    

Detailed description: 
      Additional process evaluation includes baseline and follow up surveys with coaches (from both
      intervention and control arms), individual interviews with coaches, as well as focus groups
      with students to collect coach and athlete perspectives on the relevance and local impact of
      the intervention program.
    

Intervention name(s): "Coaching Boys Into Men" program
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) program consists of a 60 minute training for high school coaches led by a violence prevention advocate to introduce coaches to the rationale for CBIM and the CBIM Coaches Kit. The Coaches use this CBIM toolkit to provide weekly discussions with their athletes (generally 10-15 minute mini-sessions) throughout their athletic season (11 weeks). Discussion topics include how to prevent disrespectful and harmful behaviors towards women and girls and how to promote healthy choices and relationships among youth.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: gender-based violence; intimate partner violence; relationship abuse; sexual harassment; sexual violence