Case Study of a School-Based Universal Dating Violence Prevention Program

Abstract

Evaluation of universal dating violence prevention programs has rapidly expanded in the past two decades. Many programs demonstrate change in attitudes supportive of dating violence, and a few show evidence of behavior change; however, detailed analysis of process and fidelity of program implementation is generally neglected. An important goal of prevention research is to identify successful initiatives that can be replicated and disseminated in the field. The purpose of the current case study is to document the implementation process of a middle school-based dating violence prevention curriculum in economically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods. Particular attention is given to the school context, such as the process of school and teacher recruitment, the program model, and classroom implementation of the dating violence prevention program in four areas: teacher training, student outcomes, program fidelity, and student engagement. Nine health and physical education teachers from six urban middle schools participated. Results describe effective strategies to secure school participation and engagement, and provide evidence regarding methods to train health and physical education teachers in low-income, urban neighborhoods. Furthermore, classroom observations demonstrate that teachers successfully implemented the five-lesson curriculum, which resulted in positive student outcomes to prevent dating violence. This case study represents an important step in deepening our understanding of the mechanisms of program delivery.

School-based interventions TO Prevent Dating and Relationship Violence and Gender-Based Violence: STOP-DRV-GBV systematic review

“…The majority (n = 104, 65.0%) of interventions were evaluated in single-arm studies, while 24 interventions (15.0%) 78,80,94,100,105,123,[177][178][179] were compared with at least one other active intervention.…”

“…In 10 studies, ethnicity was mixed and no one race or ethnic group accounted for more than 50% of students. 91,101,114,126,202,207,[213][214][215][216] The remaining studies reported a majority black or African American 80,137,178,217 or Hispanic or Latino…”

“…Information about schools' or students' socioeconomic status (SES) was reported for 18 of the samples (16.5%), 78,80,84,91,94,111,120,[124][125][126]136,154,207,211,217,219,221,222 although in some cases this was limited to a general statement about the district or school. Of these samples, nine samples 80,[124][125][126]136,154,207,217,221 were identified as including a majority of students from lower SES backgrounds (e.g. free or subsidised school lunches, or in areas with high economic deprivation).…”

Evaluation of a Teen Dating Violence Prevention Intervention among Urban Middle-School Youth Using Youth Participatory Action Research: Lessons Learned from Start Strong Boston

“…Dating Matters is a primary prevention effort focused on 6 th to 8 th graders in urban, high crime neighborhoods (Tharp, 2012). Prevention programs are most frequently implemented in school-based settings, as either part of a health class curriculum or in afterschool settings (Cascardi & Avery-Leaf, 2014; Hickman, Jaycox, & Aronoff, 2004; Malhotra, Gonzalez-Guarda, & Mitchell, 2015). Evaluation studies have shown some promising results of these interventions; for example, a recent meta-analysis of 23 school-based interventions (10 in middle schools, 13 in high schools) showed significant changes in knowledge and attitudes across studies, though not in perpetration or victimization (De La Rue, Polanin, Espelage, & Pigott, 2017).…”