Citation

Edwards KM, Sessarego SN, Mitchell KJ, Chang H, Waterman EA, Banyard VL. Am. J. Community Psychol. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Social Work, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/ajcp.12379

PMID

31449675

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of exposure to Bringing in the Bystander-High School Curriculum (BITB-HSC) on school personnel, which included a seven session classroom curriculum for ninth through twelfth graders (student curriculum), a bystander training workshop for school personnel (school personnel workshop), and reading materials (handout). We examined how exposure to these various BITB-HSC intervention components was associated with school personnel's knowledge and bystander efficacy, intentions, and barriers specific to student relationship abuse (RA) and sexual assault (SA). Participants were 488 school personnel from 12 high schools in upper New England who completed the 4-month follow-up survey that assessed for intervention exposure (284 participants completed both the baseline and follow-up survey). Whereas 53% of participants were exposed to no intervention components, the other half of the sample were exposed to a combination of intervention components. Higher baseline knowledge and reactive bystander intentions were associated with subsequent exposure to both the student curriculum and the handout, and fewer barriers to bystander action predicted exposure to the school personnel workshop. Exposure to the school personnel workshop, student curriculum, and handout was associated with subsequent greater knowledge, exposure to the student curriculum predicted reactive bystander intentions, and exposure to the handout predicted higher reactive bystander intentions and bystander efficacy.

FINDINGS suggest that despite challenges with engagement, exposure to the BITB-HSC components may be a useful tool in improving school personnel's responses to RA and SA among high school students.

© 2019 Society for Community Research and Action.

Language: en

Keywords

Bystander; Dating violence; Intervention; Prevention; Relationship abuse; School personnel; Sexual assault; Sexual harassment; Teachers; Training