Development and Pilot Trial of an Intervention to Reduce Disclosure Recipients Negative Social Reactions and Victims Psychological Distress and Problem Drinking

The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate an intervention, Supporting Survivors and Self: An Intervention for Social Supports of Survivors of Partner Abuse and Sexual Aggression (SSS). SSS trains potential recipients of IPV or SA disclosure on the best methods of responding to a victim's disclosure. Consenting college students will be randomized into the SSS intervention or a wait-list control condition. Evaluation data will be multi-informant (i.e., data from both informal supports and victims) and multi-method (i.e., qualitative and quantitative). The investigators hypothesize that individuals receiving the SSS intervention, compared to individuals in the wait-list control condition, will provide less negative and more positive social reactions to victims' disclosure.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Depression; Alcohol Drinking; Alcohol; Harmful Use; Social Skills; Coping Behavior; Post-traumatic Stress Disorder; Coping Skills; Social Behavior; Alcohol Abuse; Drinking, College; Social Stigma; Empathy; Self-Criticism; Social Norms; Social Responsibility
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Supporting Survivors and Self: An Intervention for Social Supports of Survivors of Partner Abuse and Sexual Aggression (SSS)

Detailed Description

Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault (SA) are public health issues that impact the vast majority of college students in some capacity (as a victim and/or disclosure recipient). Most (75+%) victims disclose to informal supports, such as friends. Unfortunately, over 80% of victims' disclosures are met with negative social reactions (e.g., blame) from informal supports (used interchangeably with disclosure recipients). Negative social reactions predict deleterious psychological (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder) and behavioral (e.g., problem drinking) health outcomes in victims. Although recent research has shed light on the factors (e.g., victim attributions) that predict informal supports' negative (e.g., egocentric and blaming statements) and positive (e.g., providing emotional support) social reactions, there is no intervention to date that targets potential recipients of IPV and SA disclosure to inform these individuals of the best methods of responding to an IPV or SA disclosure. This type of intervention, if effective in reducing negative social reactions in informal supports, could reduce problem drinking and related outcomes in victims.

Thus, in the current study, the investigators evaluate an intervention (i.e., Supporting Survivors and Self [SSS]) created for potential informal support disclosure recipients. College students are the target population for the initial version of the SSS intervention given the high rates of SA, IPV, and alcohol misuse among this demographic. The interactive, two-session intervention teaches potential disclosure recipients what to say and not to say and ways to promote healthy coping and discourage unhealthy coping in victims. The role of alcohol in risk for and outcomes associated with IPV and SA as well as alcohol-specific social reactions are addressed in the SSS intervention because alcohol is involved in most situations of IPV and SA among college students, and drinking to cope is common among victims.

This study is a small-scale, yet rigorous, initial evaluation of the SSS intervention that includes a prospective (i.e., intervention prior to potential disclosure) and experimental (i.e., randomized control trial) methodology. Outcome data will be multi-informant (i.e., data from both informal supports and victims) and multi-method (i.e., qualitative and quantitative). The investigators will:

1. Implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the SSS intervention compared to a wait-list control condition among potential informal supports. Hypothesis 1a: Individuals receiving the SSS intervention (N=450) compared to individuals in the wait-list control condition (N=450) will report fewer IPV and SA rape myths as well as greater intentions to provide positive social reactions and fewer intentions to provide negative social reactions. Hypothesis 1b: Individuals who receive SSS intervention and are subsequent disclosure recipients (n=100) will report providing less negative social reactions and more positive social reactions than individuals in the control condition who are subsequent disclosure recipients (n=100); mediators (e.g., low victim blame) and moderators (e.g., victim alcohol use at time of assault) of outcomes will be examined. Hypothesis 1c: Individuals who receive the SSS intervention and are subsequent victims of IPV and/or SA (n=60) will report less self-blame, PTSD, depression, drinking to cope, and problem drinking compared to individuals in the control condition who are subsequent victims of IPV and/or SA (n=60); mediators (e.g., engagement in healthy coping) and moderators (e.g., gender) will be explored. Methodology: A random sample of college students from a public university will be invited to participate in a pre-test (all participants), SSS intervention (only participants randomly assigned to this condition), and six-month post-test (all participants). A subsample of disclosure recipients in the SSS intervention condition will be invited to participate in a qualitative exit interviews (after the post-test) to enrich findings and inform SSS revisions.
2. Determine the feasibility in recruiting victims who disclosed to individuals in the SSS and control conditions to complete outcome surveys and gather preliminary effectiveness data on the SSS intervention. Hypothesis 2a: Victims who disclose to an individual in the SSS intervention (n=50) will report trends towards receiving more positive social reactions to disclosure, less negative social reactions to disclosure, and fewer symptoms of PTSD, depression, drinking to cope, and negative alcohol-related consequences compared to individuals who disclose to an individual in the control condition (n=50).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 1268
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New Hampshire
    • Durham, New Hampshire, United States, 03824
      • University of New Hampshire

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 24 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• undergraduate student at University of New Hampshire
• read and understand English
• able to independently complete online surveys

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention; This arm will receive the intervention, followed by a six-month follow-up evaluation.	Behavioral: Supporting Survivors and Self: An Intervention for Social Supports of Survivors of Partner Abuse and Sexual Aggression (SSS); The SSS intervention consists of a two-hour session followed by a 90-minute booster session a month following the initial program session. The SSS intervention is delivered in groups of approximately 20 students facilitated by peer educators. The SSS intervention provides participants with specific information on the reasons why positive social reactions are important and negative social reactions can be harmful, examples of what to say and what not to say (including ways to promote healthy coping and discourage unhealthy coping, e.g., drinking to cope), opportunities for roleplay, and an emphasis on the importance of self-care and ways in which self-care can be balanced with the needs of IPV and SA victims.
No Intervention: Wait-list Control; This arm will receive the intervention after a six-month follow-up evaluation.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Negative Social Reactions	As measured by the Social Reactions Questionnaire (at six month follow-up). This scale is measured from 1 to 6, with higher mean scores representing a less desirable outcome.	Six months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Positive Social Reactions	As measured by the Social Reactions Questionnaire (at six month follow-up). This scale is measured from 1 to 6, with higher mean scores representing a less desirable outcome.	Six months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of New Hampshire
• Collaborators: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA); University of South Florida; University of Illinois at Chicago

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 10, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 10, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): June 10, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 29, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 29, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): April 5, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 19, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 24, 2020
• Last Verified: September 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Depression; Prevention; Randomized Controlled Trial; Alcohol; Intervention; Coping; Post-traumatic Stress Disorder; College Students; Sexual Assault; Sexual Violence; Interpersonal Violence; Mixed-Methods; Outcome Evaluation; Disclosure; Social Reactions
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Drinking Behavior; Alcohol-Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Alcohol Drinking; Alcoholism; Depression; Stress Disorders, Traumatic; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Alcohol Drinking in College
• Other Study ID Numbers: UNewHampshire

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No