Protective factors for sexual violence perpetration

Clemson University, Clemson SC

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed research will identify protective factors across multiple levels of influence that reduce the risk for the perpetration of sexual violence (SV) among first-year male college students. The study will apply an ecological framework to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to identify individual, peer, and family-related distal factors that predict the TBP proximal variables (i.e., attitudes, norms, and control), and in turn, risk for SV perpetration. The sample will include 600 first-year male college students who will complete self-report questionnaires at the end of their first year and at the end of their second year in college. MPLUS will be used to analyze the data. The specific aims of the study are to: (1) determine what distal variables from the individual, peer, and family-level ecological domains are associated with the TPB constructs, attitudes toward SV, perceptions of norms regarding SV perpetration, and perceived control over the perpetration of SV; (2) determine if the proximal variables measuring the TPB constructs are prospectively associated with SV perpetration; (3) determine if the TPB variables mediate the prospective associations between the distal variables and SV perpetration; and (4) assess the overall capacity of an ecologically applied TPB theory to explain SV perpetration. The study will allow for determining the utility of the TPB in predicting SV perpetration, the appropriateness of the measures in assessing study variables, and the effectiveness of the procedures used to recruit participants and collect data. Findings from this study will be used to design, implement, and evaluate a preventive intervention for male college students that specifically targets changing the identified modifiable protective factors that predict SV perpetration. The applicability of the intervention can then be tested with other populations. Although our research agenda will take several years to accomplish, this RO3 will enable us to make headway in this process. Despite sexual violence (SV) being prevalent among college students, there is a dearth of interventions for preventing SV perpetration. This is likely due to the lack of a unifying theory in research on SV perpetration. Successful interventions in public health generally are based on cogent theoretical frameworks. Studies not grounded in theory produce findings that are difficult to translate into intervention strategies due to the lack of a priori frameworks that specify how various factors interact in predicting behavior. The proposed study is innovative and advances the research literature in several ways. First, it uses a theoretical framework, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which has been used successfully to promote other types of health behaviors. Second, it extends the TBP to examine distal factors that predict the TPB constructs. Third, study variables are from several ecological domains, and thus the design acknowledges that SV perpetration is influenced across several levels. Fourth, it addresses perpetration among male college students, a population at risk for engaging in SV perpetration due to their young age, increased substance use, and developmental stage (e.g., transition from adolescence to young adulthood). Fifth, it examines if the model variables predict SV perpetration over time. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]