Randomized Trial of a Gender Enhanced Middle School Violence Prevention Program

描述（由申请人提供）：青少年中的欺凌、性暴力和约会暴力都是主要的公共卫生问题，发生率相对较高，需要引起重视，以减轻它们造成的巨大痛苦。这些问题有着共同的发展相关性，并且有证据表明，欺凌者的犯罪和受害与性骚扰、基于性别的骚扰和青少年约会暴力的参与同时和纵向相关（Basile等人，2009年; Espalan等人，2012年）。尽管欺凌行为付出了代价，但美国预防计划的影响却令人失望，尤其是在中学。社会情绪学习（SEL）计划正在减少美国学校的攻击性（Durlak等人，2011年），部分是通过帮助学生发展社会和情感技能来管理冲突，但效果可能更大。本申请中提供的数据强烈表明，为了提高效果，基于学校的欺凌预防计划需要：1）整合基于证据的方法，重点关注不同层次的影响（个人，同伴，学校），2）关注基于性别的骚扰和暴力（即，性骚扰和暴力、约会暴力、与性取向和/或性别角色不一致有关的骚扰和暴力）; 3）解决欺凌和基于性别的骚扰和暴力的主要驱动因素-传统的男性意识形态和仇视同性恋的辱骂。因此，本申请提出了一项大规模RCT，将第二步（CfC，2008）计划与性别增强的第二步+转移边界计划（SB; Taylor等人，2011年）。SB计划将解决性骚扰，基于性别的骚扰和约会暴力的课堂课程与全校策略相结合，以减少这些结果。全校范围的战略包括应对约会暴力和性骚扰的学校协议，以及加强对“热点”的监测。“来自伊利诺斯州两个学区的28所中学（6 - 8年级）将被随机分配到第二个学区， 仅步骤条件或性别增强的第二步骤条件（第二步骤/SB）。两个队列（6年级和7年级）将完成基线和后续调查。研究目的是评估第二步：学生成功通过预防计划的差异功效（第二步）与性别增强的第二步方案（第二步/SB）减少欺凌、性骚扰、基于性别的骚扰和青少年约会暴力;评估性别强化的第二步与第二步相比，在多大程度上导致了围绕欺凌的积极旁观者干预的增加，性骚扰，基于性别的骚扰，和青少年约会暴力;并测试干预措施在多大程度上影响同龄人对欺凌，性骚扰，同性恋恐惧症的称呼，和青少年约会暴力通过其对同龄人社会动态的影响。这项研究具有高度创新性，可以通过针对欺凌，约会暴力和性骚扰产生重大的公共卫生影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Bullying, sexual violence, and dating violence among adolescents are all major public health problems that occur at relatively high rates and demand attention to alleviate the considerable suffering they cause. These problems share developmental correlates and evidence is emerging that bully perpetration and victimization is concurrently and longitudinally associated with sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, and teen dating violence involvement (Basile et al., 2009; Espelage et al., 2012). Despite the costs of bullying, the impact of prevention programs in the US has been disappointing, especially in middle-schools. Social-emotional learning (SEL) programs are reducing aggression in US schools (Durlak et al., 2011), in part, by helping students develop social and emotional skills to manage conflicts, but effects could be greater. Data presented in this application strongly suggest that to increase effects, school-based bullying prevention programs need to: 1) integrate evidence-based approaches that focus on different levels of influence (individual, peer, school), 2) focus on gender-based harassment and violence (i.e., sexual harassment and violence, dating violence, harassment and violence associated with sexual orientation and/or gender-role nonconformity) and 3) address a major driver of bullying and gender-based harassment and violence - traditional masculine ideology and homophobic name-calling. Thus, this application proposes a large-scale RCT comparing the Second Step (CfC, 2008) program to a gender-enhanced Second Step + Shifting Boundaries program (SB; Taylor et al., 2011). The SB program combines a classroom curriculum that addresses sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, and dating violence with whole-school strategies to decrease these outcomes. School-wide strategies include school protocols for responding to dating violence and sexual harassment and increased monitoring of "hot spots." Twenty-eight middle schools (grades 6 - 8) from two school districts in Illinois will be randomly assigned to either the Second Step only condition or the gender-enhanced Second Step condition (Second Step/SB). Two cohorts (6th and 7th graders) will complete baseline and follow-up surveys. Study aims are to evaluate the differential efficacy of the Second Step: Student Success Through Prevention program (Second Step) versus a gender-enhanced Second Step program (Second Step/SB) on reducing bullying, sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, and teen dating violence; to assess the extent to which gender-enhanced Second Step versus Second Step results in greater increases in positive bystander intervention around bullying, sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, and teen dating violence; and to test the extent to which the intervention impacts peer-level attitudes toward bullying, sexual harassment, homophobic name-calling, and teen dating violence through its effect on peer social dynamics. This study is highly innovative and could have substantial public health impact by targeting bullying, dating violence, and sexual harassment.