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305478
Differential responsiveness to a bystander-based sexual violence prevention program for college athletes: The role of personality
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
: 5:10 PM - 5:30 PM
Nina Cummings, MS
,
Gannett Health Services, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Background. Prosocial bystander programs are a promising approach for sexual violence prevention on college campuses. However, these programs are unlikely to work for all participants, and a growing body of literature argues for the importance of understanding differential responsiveness to programs. Since personality, an individual difference variable, has bearing on program efficacy, this exploratory study evaluated whether personality moderated response to a one-hour, bystander-based sexual violence prevention program for college athletes. Methods. Data were collected at pre-test, post-test and 3-month follow-up from a block randomized treatment and control group of male varsity athletes (n=58). The primary outcome was bystander efficacy. Personality data were collected using the Big Five Inventory-10, and used to create personality clusters. Results. Differential responsiveness to program was found for the personality variables conscientiousness and neuroticism. Using two-step cluster analysis, two clusters emerged, a higher conscientiousness/lower neuroticism cluster, and a lower conscientiousness/higher neuroticism cluster. In multivariate models, the higher conscientiousness/lower neuroticism cluster was part of a significant interaction with treatment group, such that treatment individuals in this cluster had significantly lower bystander efficacy scores at post-test than control participants in this same cluster (p=.0459). Descriptive data showed a continuing, but attenuated, treatment-cluster effect at follow-up. Conclusions. Data from this exploratory study suggest that individual differences are important to consider when designing prevention programs, in order to ensure beneficial effects for the largest number of participants. Discussion of why these particular personality variables may be related to differential responsiveness, as well as implications for bystander-based sexual violence prevention programs, will be discussed.
Learning Areas:
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Discuss how individual difference variables can alter program effectiveness.
Describe the role of personality in impacting responsiveness to a bystander-based sexual violence prevention program.
Keyword(s): Evaluation, College Students
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been involved in research on sexual violence for the past 6 years, and have published several papers on this topic. I also completed my MPH in Social and Behavioral Science, which focused on program planning and evaluation, and received training on program evaluation during my doctoral program. My PhD training in Developmental Psychology also included work on individual differences, including personality.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
