Positive bystander behavior change on campus: Implementation and outcome evaluation from a bystander intervention to prevent intimate partner violence at a large public university

Between 20-25% of female undergraduates experience attempted or completed sexual assault while in college. Most prevention efforts to date have focused on individual-level prevention that may change individuals' attitudes toward rape but show limited behavior change. Bystander interventions offer promise for behavioral change by engaging students as allies who use positive actions during social situations to prevent sexual assault. Students at a large public university worked with staff and faculty to develop and evaluate a 4-hour bystander program called “One Act”. It was compared to an existing training called HAVEN, which focuses on response to survivors of violence. Participants of both programs took a pretest, one-week post-test, and two-month follow-up, which probed attitudes toward date rape, bystander self-efficacy, intention to act, and actual bystander behaviors. Most One Act participants attend as part of peer group trainings while all HAVEN participants were all self-selected (no group trainings). Approximately 450 students participated in One Act trainings and 400 students participated in HAVEN. Results show that both trainings were effective in increasing students' scores on attitudes toward date rape, self-efficacy, and intention to act at two months. One Act participants also reported significantly greater bystander behaviors at two months than HAVEN participants, despite HAVEN participants' greater self-selection. Thus, One Act was additionally successful in engaging students to initiate positive ally behaviors when presented with potentially dangerous interpersonal situations. Several characteristics of the program and its implementation and implications for the relevance of bystander interventions on college campuses will be discussed.