Multi-College Bystander Efficacy Evaluation
Condition: Sexual Violence
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Bystander interventions, recognized as promising violence prevention strategies, are unique
      in their engagement of all community members to 1) recognize situations that may become
      violent and 2) learn to safely and effectively intervene to reduce violence risk. Based on
      their promise, the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act (SaVE) now requires all
      publicly-funded colleges to provide bystander intervention. With SaVE's policy intervention
      requiring bystander interventions, a "natural experiment" has arisen to determine the
      relative efficacy of students' bystander training across multiple colleges. Investigators
      propose a quasi-experimental design (using fractional factorials) to evaluate the relative
      efficacy of three bystander interventions to reduce violence in college communities. Green
      Dot will be one of three bystander interventions evaluated. A recent rigorous evaluation has
      found that Green Dot is associated with a 20-40% reduction in VAW in college and high school
      settings.

      In aim 1, investigators will compare the relative efficacy of bystander interventions to a)
      increase bystander efficacy and behaviors, b) reduce violence acceptance, c) reduce
      interpersonal violence victimization and perpetration, and d) increase program cost
      effectiveness. The three main bystander groups compared will be: exclusively online training,
      Green Dot (speeches and intensive bystander training), and other skills-based bystander
      training. Program efficacy data will be obtained from student surveys, campus crime
      statistics, and surveys with college staff and administrators responsible for selecting and
      implementing bystander interventions.

      In aim 2, investigators seek to grow communities of VAW prevention researchers. Researcher
      communities will form through researchers' engagement with college recruitment, survey
      design, data collection and analyses. Specifically investigators will determine the efficacy
      of this program to increase VAW prevention research productivity defined as a) increasing
      research skills and b) increasing research communications measured as manuscript submissions,
      presentations, and publications.

      This natural experiment will generate new understanding into efficacy of how bystander
      programs work. This natural experiment will also provide the VAW research community an
      opportunity to increase our skill-sets and share our experiences with and help grow the next
      generation of VAW prevention researchers.
    

Detailed description: 
      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.

      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.
    

Intervention name(s): BIC 1; BIC 2; BIC 3
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): BIC cluster creation will include policy, implementation and degree of community coverage, specific title mandatory, and exclusively online training.; BIC cluster creation will include policy, implementation and degree of community coverage, specific title mandatory, and exclusively online training.; BIC cluster creation will include policy, implementation and degree of community coverage, specific title mandatory, and exclusively online training.
Observational model: Other
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Public universities with junior faculty to be mentored in violence prevention Note:
        sampling unit for primary analyses is the college: answers to questions below refer to
        students clustered at each institution
      
Keywords: Bystanding behaviors; Campus; Prevention; Sexual Assault; CampusSave