Sexual Health

Systematic Review of College-based Bystander Interventions to Reduce Sexual Violence

A Fast Track article published in the Health Behavior and Policy Review Journal.
The full article is available for subscribers, subscribe here.

Authors:

Kelsey Banton
Ronald D Williams
Keff M Housman

Objective:

Up to 20% of female students experience some form of sexual violence while attending college. Bystander intervention programs to reduce sexual violence among university students are increasingly common, yet their effectiveness is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of literature on issues of sexual violence on college campuses, as well as the role of bystander intervention programs and bystander behavior.

Methods:

Using PRISMA guidelines, database and reference list reviews generated a total of 530 resources from 1972 to 2020.

Results:

Screenings resulted in a total of 106 resources including peer-reviewed articles, governmental reports, and other scholarly references.

Conclusions:

Research into campus-based sexual violence has documented the increasing popularity of bystander intervention programs. Although these bystander programs are popular, literature highlights their limited effectiveness in reducing campus based sexual violence. Future research should explore methods to increase understanding of how bystander intervention programs impact immediate and long-term behavior. Research also should explore motivations to intervene during lower risk situations on the sexual violence continuum which could help explain motivations to intervene during higher-risk situations.

Source: Health Behavior and Policy Review
Publisher: Paris Scholar Publishing Ltd.
Article Link: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/psp/hbpr/pre-prints/content-psp_hbpr_10_2_2

2023-05-22T14:50:52-06:00May 22nd, 2023|College Health, Sexual Health, Women's Health|

Messaging Considerations in Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention

An Open Access article published in the Health Behavior and Policy Review Journal.
The full article is available as a PDF download.

Authors:

Kayla Knopp, PhD
Galena Rhoades, PhD
Lisa Rue, PhD
Michael Floren, PhD
Kiley Floren, MPH

Objective:

Teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention are top public health goals. Despite decades of research, programs to prevent adverse sexual health outcomes among adolescents show limited effectiveness in broad dissemination. In the current study, we aimed to identify understudied factors that may impact effectiveness of teen pregnancy and STI prevention (TPP) programs, with goals of informing innovation in program development and outlining future research priorities.

Methods:

A panel of experts in TPP programs generated a list of understudied constructs in evaluation research, distilled to 3 considerations regarding messaging: single versus multiple messages, adverse effects of safety messages, and sociocultural context. We conducted an exploratory search of published literature in health promotion fields targeted toward messaging strategies, and we synthesized information from relevant empirical and review papers.

Results:

Limited evidence was found suggesting multiple messages or adverse message impacts are likely to impair TPP program effectiveness overall, although both may emerge in certain contexts and populations. In contrast, considerable evidence highlighted the importance of cultural context and individual differences.

Conclusions:

Effective TPP program messaging should be consistent, tailored, and systemic. Future research should evaluate these messaging strategies to determine whether they may enhance program impacts.

Source: Health Behavior and Policy Review, Volume 8, Number 6, November 2021, pp. 596-608(13)
Publisher: Paris Scholar Publishing Ltd.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14485/HBPR.8.6.10

2022-01-02T10:11:54-07:00January 2nd, 2022|Pregnancy, Sexual Health|

Single and Multi-message Sexuality Education: Improving Implementation and Evaluation of Group-based Programs

Authors:

Lisa A. Rue, PhD
Michael A. Floren, PhD
Kiley M. Floren, MPH
Galena K. Rhoades, PhD
Kayla Knopp, PhD
Elaine M. Walker, PhD
Jesse Owen, PhD

Objective:

In this study, we isolated primary messaging strategies of sexuality education curricula to improve tailored delivery of group-based interventions. Specifically, our aim was to define single-message programs (eg, messaging about avoiding sexual risk or messaging about reducing sexual risk) and multiple-message programs (eg, avoiding sexual risk and reducing sexual risk), and to investigate their comparative effectiveness.

Methods:

We used a descriptive approach with publicly available data from US Department of Health and Human Services-funded teen pregnancy prevention programs to categorize 16 different curricula as single-message or multiple-message. We coded primary messages using a curriculum mapping rubric and scoring that was evaluated by a panel of experts for content validity. Forest plots compared behavioral outcomes.

Results:

Scores for primary messages achieved inter-rater reliability of 91%-100%; curricula were scored on 20 items within each category to calculate mean scores. Spearman correlations for items ranged from .43 to .93.

Conclusions:

No outcome differences were observed between single- or multi-message programs. Effective delivery of primary messaging may rely more on identifying moderators of classroom climate typically underrepresented in evaluations of school-based programs.

Source: Health Behavior and Policy Review, Volume 8, Number 3, May 2021, pp. 223-235(13)
Publisher: Paris Scholar Publishing Ltd.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14485/HBPR.8.3.4

2021-06-30T21:24:23-06:00June 30th, 2021|Interventions, Sexual Health|
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