Measuring the Treatment Effect of a Sexual Violence Prevention Curricular Intervention for College Students

After campus climate survey results at a private Southern U.S. university showed unexpectedly high levels of sexual violence experienced by students, a multidisciplinary group of faculty designed a semester-long course for academic credit. The course addressed upstream factors influencing the prevalence of sexual violence in undergraduate populations, with a focus on first-year students. A quasi-experimental, nonequivalent group, pre-post survey design evaluated the impact of the curricular intervention, surveying both students enrolled in the intervention course and those in a comparison course. This analysis used a pooled sample (n = 177) from two cohorts of students in the intervention (n = 118) and comparison courses (n = 59). Focal measures analyzed included the Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory, Sexual Conservatism, Heteronormative Attitudes and Beliefs, Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance, Bystander Efficacy, Consent Myth Awareness, Sexual Misconduct Apathy, and Campus Resource Awareness. A series of weighted g-computations estimated the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) on students enrolled in the intervention course. Three of the eight measures showed significant changes pre-post in the desired direction. Results indicated significant reductions for intervention students in Heteronormative Attitudes and Beliefs and increases in both Bystander Efficacy and Campus Resource Awareness. Findings indicate that, for those enrolled in the curricular intervention, the course fostered positive improvements in heteronormative attitudes and behavioral intentions regarding bystander intervention while increasing campus resource knowledge. Findings confirm and extend prior work on the utility of a curricular intervention for improving campus climate.