Abstract
Evaluation of Building a Culture of Healthy Relationships: A School-based Teen Dating Violence Curriculum to Promote Healthy Relationships
Meghan Clough, MA, Amneris Torres, LCSW and Kevin T. Borrup, DrPH, JD, MPA
Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford, CT
APHA's 2018 Annual Meeting & Expo (Nov. 10 - Nov. 14)
Building a Culture of Healthy Relationships (BCHR) is a 7-session, school-based teen dating violence curriculum that focuses on educating high school students about violence against women, co-occurring forms of abuse, healthy vs. unhealthy relationships and how to be an ally against violence. The sessions are one hour and typically held with a group of about 10-25 students in a classroom setting. BCHR is currently being implemented at 5 schools in Connecticut.
Methods:
Participants completed confidential, paper-and pencil questionnaires in order to assess their beliefs, attitudes, and self-reported behaviors related to dating violence and bystander behaviors prior to and after participating in BCHR.
Results: 79 students, grades 9-12, completed baseline surveys. 50.6% of the students were female and 49.4% male. Of the 79 students, 31% identified as black, 15% white, 34% Hispanic, and 20% “Other”. The median age at baseline was 16 years old. We expect to see a reduction in the acceptance and experience of dating violence among our sample. We hypothesize that the self-report measures will demonstrate that participants in BCHR demonstrate increased intolerance of jealousy, verbal and physical aggression. Additionally, we anticipate that participants will report being more likely to recognize and express an intent to intervene in situations of dating violence among their peers. These changes will be reflected in participants’ pre/post questionnaire measures related to attitudes about verbal and physical aggression in dating situations, bystander attitudes, and perpetration and victimization in dating relationships
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs Social and behavioral sciences