Abstract
Programs to prevent peer sexual violence that encourage positive bystander intervention are proliferating. Yet, little is known about how these prosocial behaviors unfold over time across middle to later adolescence. The current study examined helpful bystander actions over three years among students in grades 7–10 (mean age 13.7, range 12–18) at baseline (N = 2539, 53.2% girls). Surveys assessed bystander behavior, social norms, and use of alcohol. Multilevel logistic regression examined patterns of change over time, as well as how changes in attitudes and binge drinking predicted changes in taking bystander action to prevent peer violence. Positive bystander behaviors overall decreased over time, consistent with previous work on bullying. Higher positive social norms and lower denial of sexual violence as a problem were associated with more positive helping behaviors across different waves of data. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of bystander intervention training for peer sexual violence prevention may be enhanced by developing strategies to work against the observed developmental decline in helping, perhaps by social marketing campaigns that can bolster positive social norms.
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V.B. participated in the design and coordination of the study including supervision and participation in data collection. She participated in design of analyses, interpretation of data and wrote the first draft of the introduction and discussion of the manuscript; E.W. participated in the supervision of the study, design of analyses and performed all statistical analyses E.W. participated in data interpretation and wrote the methods and results; K.E. was the PI on the project including design and coordination of all aspects of the study. K.E. participated in interpretation of data and substantial editing to all drafts of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Funding for this study was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Grant #R01-CEO02524. The findings and conclusions in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Banyard, V., Waterman, E. & Edwards, K. Bystanders to Prevent Peer Sexual Violence: Understanding Patterns of Prosocial Behavior Over Time from Early to Later Adolescence. J Youth Adolescence 50, 1982–1994 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01479-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01479-z