A web-based sexual violence bystander intervention for male college students: Randomized controlled trial

Background: bystander intervention approaches offer promise for reducing rates of sexual violence on college campuses. most interventions are in-person small-group formats,which limit their reach and reduce their overall public health impact. objective: this study evaluated the efficacy of realconsent,a web-based bystander approach to sexual violence prevention,in enhancing prosocial intervening behaviors and preventing sexual violence perpetration. methods: a random probability sample of 743 male undergraduate students (aged 18 to 24 years) attending a large,urban university located in the southeastern united states was recruited online and randomized to either realconsent (n=376) or a web-based general health promotion program (n=367). participants were surveyed online at baseline,postintervention,and 6-months postintervention. realconsent was delivered via a password-protected web portal that contained six 30-minute media-based and interactive modules covering knowledge of informed consent,communication skills regarding sex,the role of alcohol and male socialization in sexual violence,empathy for rape victims,and bystander education. primary outcomes were self-reported prosocial intervening behaviors and sexual violence perpetration. secondary outcomes were theoretical mediators (eg,knowledge,attitudes). results: at 6-month follow-up realconsent participants intervened more often (p=.04) and engaged in less sexual violence perpetration (p=.04) compared to controls. in addition,realconsent participants reported greater legal knowledge of sexual assault (p<.001),greater knowledge of effective consent (p<.001),less rape myths (p<.001),greater empathy for rape victims (p<.001),less negative date rape attitudes (p<.001),less hostility toward women (p=.01),greater intentions to intervene (p=.04),less hyper-gender ideology (p<.001),less positive outcome expectancies for nonconsensual sex (p=.03),more positive outcome expectancies for intervening (p<.001),and less comfort with other men's inappropriate behaviors (p<.001). conclusions: our results support the efficacy of realconsent. due to its web-based format,realconsent has potential for broad-based dissemination thereby increasing its overall public health impact on sexual violence. trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov: nct01903876; http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/nct01903876 (archived by webcite at http://www.webcitation.org/6s1pxxwkt).