Development and Psychometrics of Instruments to Assess School Personnel's Bystander Action in Situations of Teen Relationship Abuse and Sexual Assault

Development and Validation of the Bystander Engagement Scale for Witnessed Intimate Partner Violence: A South Korean Version

Bystanders play a crucial role in assisting and rescuing victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) or sexual assault, thereby preventing further harm. Consequently, an increasing amount of research has focused on improving bystander interventions in such situations. While many existing scales that measure bystanders' willingness to intervene and their behaviors are likely tailored to Western settings and primarily focused on preventing sexual assaults, pursuing diversity to make these scales applicable to a variety of contexts is necessary. This study aimed to develop and validate a scale from South Korean samples that measure the likely level of bystander engagement in witnessed IPV situations, named the Bystander Engagement Scale for Witnessed Intimate Partner Violence (BESW-IPV). Preliminary items, developed to describe various IPV situations that a bystander might witness, underwent content validity testing through expert review and cognitive focus group interviews. Afterward, the scale was administered to 311 participants from the target population in South Korea. The scale's factor structure was assessed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The reliability and validity were rigorously assessed. The final version of the BESW-IPV comprised 28 items. Through EFA, "direct IPV indicators" and "indirect IPV indicators" were identified. Together, these factors accounted for 76.10% of the total variance. CFA affirmed that the final model offers an acceptable fit. The scale's convergent and discriminant validities were also well established. The Cronbach's alpha and the McDonald's omega values were 0.98 and 0.99, respectively. In contrast to many existing tools that measure bystander intervention predominantly within the confines of Western educational settings, we believe that the BESW-IPV can be applied in broader contexts, especially in patriarchal environments. Further research is required to translate and validate this tool in different cultural contexts.

Preventing Teen Relationship Abuse and Sexual Assault through Bystander Training: Intervention Outcomes for School Personnel

The purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of exposure to Bringing in the Bystander-High School Curriculum (BITB-HSC) on school personnel, which included a seven session classroom curriculum for ninth through twelfth graders (student curriculum), a bystander training workshop for school personnel (school personnel workshop), and reading materials (handout). We examined how exposure to these various BITB-HSC intervention components was associated with school personnel's knowledge and bystander efficacy, intentions, and barriers specific to student relationship abuse (RA) and sexual assault (SA). Participants were 488 school personnel from 12 high schools in upper New England who completed the 4-month follow-up survey that assessed for intervention exposure (284 participants completed both the baseline and follow-up survey). Whereas 53% of participants were exposed to no intervention components, the other half of the sample were exposed to a combination of intervention components. Higher baseline knowledge and reactive bystander intentions were associated with subsequent exposure to both the student curriculum and the handout, and fewer barriers to bystander action predicted exposure to the school personnel workshop. Exposure to the school personnel workshop, student curriculum, and handout was associated with subsequent greater knowledge, exposure to the student curriculum predicted reactive bystander intentions, and exposure to the handout predicted higher reactive bystander intentions and bystander efficacy. Findings suggest that despite challenges with engagement, exposure to the BITB-HSC components may be a useful tool in improving school personnel's responses to RA and SA among high school students.

Study protocol for PRISE: a longitudinal study of sexual harassment during the transition from childhood to adolescence

Background

Sexual harassment is a widespread problem with serious consequences for individuals and societies. It is likely that sexual harassment among peers has its main onset during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence, when young people enter puberty. However, there is a lack of systematic research on sexual harassment during this developmental period. Thus, there is very little information about the prevalence of sexual harassment during this important transition, its consequences, and how to effectively intervene against and prevent the problem. The primary objective of the described project, entitled Peer Relations In School from an Ecological perspective (PRISE), is to examine sexual harassment and its developmental correlates during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence.

Methods

The PRISE study has a longitudinal design over 3 years, in which a cohort of children (N = 1000) and their main teachers (N = 40) fill out questionnaires in grades 4, 5, and 6. The questionnaires assess aspects of peer sexual harassment and potential correlates including biological (e.g., pubertal development), psychosocial (e.g., self-assertiveness, self-image, peer relations), and contextual (e.g., classroom climate, norms) factors. In addition, we will examine school readiness and policies in relation to sexual harassment and collect register data to assess the number of reports of sexual harassment from the participating schools.

Discussion

The PRISE study will enable the researchers to answer fundamental, unresolved questions about the development of sexual harassment and thus advance the very limited understanding of sexual harassment during the transition from childhood to adolescence - a central period for physical, sexual, and social development. Due to the sensitive nature of the main research concepts, and the age of the participants, the ethical aspects of the research need particular attention. Ultimately, the hope is that the PRISE study will help researchers, policy makers, and practitioners develop, and implement, knowledge that may help in combating a major, current societal challenge and adverse aspect of young people’s developmental ecologies.