A Mixed-Method Process Evaluation of an Intervention to Improve Social Reactions to Disclosures of Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse

Abstract

Because of the high rates and deleterious consequences of sexual assault (SA) and partner abuse (PA) on college campuses, there is a proliferation of programming to both prevent and respond to these issues. Most research to date, however, presents outcome evaluation data on these programs and neglects to present process evaluation data which are critical for program refinement and dissemination. The purpose of this study was to present process evaluation data (i.e., acceptability and feasibility) specific to a program that endeavored to increase positive and decrease negative social reactions from disclosure recipients to individuals disclosing SA and PA. Participants were 303 students who completed the program and participated in postintervention surveys and a subset of students ( n = 18) who completed exit interviews. Results documented that the program was both feasible and acceptable, as evidenced by high satisfaction ratings. Important suggestions were also provided for how to improve the program, such as reducing repetition and making scenarios more realistic. Finally, participants who reported higher program engagement and more program usage generally reported more intentions to provide positive social reactions, less intentions to provide negative social reactions, and less actual negative social reactions. This information is useful not only for adapting the current program discussed herein but also for program developers and preventionists wishing to create similar programming to effectively prevent and improve response to SA and PA.

Rethinking Dating and SEXUAL Violence Prevention for Youth During the Pandemic: Examining Program Feasibility and Acceptability

“…Participants partially attributed the creation of this safe space to the program’s facilitators. This finding is consistent with previous in-person SDV prevention programs with adolescents or college students, which pointed out that this feedback should be used to enhance facilitators’ trainings ( Edwards et al, 2021 ; Waterman et al, 2020 ). Additionally, the creation of this safe space could be related to the fact that the online format allowed youth different ways to engage in the program (e.g., use the chat to talk, turn the camera off).…”

A Pilot Evaluation of an Intervention to Improve Social Reactions to Sexual and Partner Violence Disclosures

“…Future research is also needed to further refine the SSS intervention to bolster its effectiveness in reducing negative social reactions and increasing positive social reactions for all students. In fact, we conducted an in-depth process evaluation of the SSS intervention alongside the outcome evaluation and will use that information to further refine the SSS intervention (Waterman, Edwards, Baker, et al, 2020). Given issues with uptake, future research should examine other ways (e.g., online) to reach students, especially those most in need of intervention like SSS.…”

A Process Evaluation of a Youth-Led Sexual Violence Prevention Initiative

“…However, youth who did not participate in the interviews but participated in the surveys generally reported high levels of acceptability of Youth VIP . Nevertheless, future research may benefit from the use of purposive sampling in which participants who liked the program as well as those who did not like the program are invited to participate in exit interviews, similar to process evaluations used in other studies on SV (Waterman et al, 2020).…”