Adapting a Sexual Assault Prevention Intervention for Transgender Undergraduates: A One-Arm Pilot Trial (TEA3)

Adapting a Sexual Assault Prevention Intervention for Transgender Undergraduates

The purpose of this study is to adapt and pilot a sexual assault prevention intervention for transgender and nonbinary (trans) undergraduate students. Forty percent of trans individuals (i.e., individuals whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth, inclusive of nonbinary people) are sexually assaulted during their time in college. Despite the magnitude of this issue, there are no sexual assault prevention interventions that have lowered victimization of trans students. The Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) intervention is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is the only intervention proven to lower rape victimization by over 50% among cisgender female undergraduates. However, trans-specific vulnerabilities to violence are not addressed in EAAA, nor in the online adaptation of EAAA recently piloted by the study team called internet-delivered EAAA (IDEA3). This project will adapt and pilot IDEA3 for trans and nonbinary students to develop one of the first evidence-based sexual assault prevention interventions for trans and nonbinary young adults. We will adapt IDEA3 for trans students ages 18-25 and test it in an initial group which we will use to make revisions to the program. Then, we will collect participant survey and focus group data on feasibility and acceptability from 4 more groups of participants, revising the intervention between groups. Finally, we will collect preliminary data on whether the program increased participants' confidence in their ability to defend themselves.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Sexual Assault and Rape
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: TEA3 Intervention

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Sarah Peitzmeier, PhD; Phone Number: 301-405-2463; Email: speitzme@umd.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Michelle Choi, MA; Phone Number: 301-405-8740; Email: mmchoi@umd.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion criteria:

• Participants must be adults ages 18 to 25, AND
• Have a gender identity that differs from their sex assigned at birth (e.g. trans or nonbinary) AND
• Be an undergraduate student AND
• Be available during the program times, AND
• Provide the contact information for another trans or nonbinary undergraduate who they would be willing to participate in the intervention with OR express willingness to being partnered with another trans or nonbinary undergraduate at their university AND
• Have access to and willingness to use the videoconferencing software Zoom for the program AND
• Consent to being recorded while participating.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participant is less than 18 years of age or older than 25 years of age, OR
• Does not identify as a trans or nonbinary individual, OR
• Is not an undergraduate student, OR
• Is not available during the program times, OR
• Does not provide the contact information for another trans or nonbinary undergraduate student who they would be willing to participate in the intervention with AND does not express a willingness to being partnered with another undergraduate OR
• Does not have access to and or is unwilling to use the videoconferencing software Zoom, OR
• Does not consent to being recorded while participating.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: TEA3 Intervention	Other: TEA3 Intervention; Delivery of TEA3 intervention, a 15-hour online sexual assault resistance intervention for transgender undergraduates.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Intervention participants' self-defense self-efficacy	This will be assessed from participant answers to baseline and post-test surveys that use validated scales to measure self-defense self-efficacy (i.e. confidence that one could defend oneself against sexual assault)	Within one week of the final intervention session
Feasibility of TEA3 intervention	This will be assessed by reviewing speed of recruitment and noting no-shows (at first session), overall session attendance, and retention rates for the online intervention to determine whether incentives are sufficient for a future larger trial; reviewing fidelity to the original intervention based on reviewing recordings of all online intervention sessions; reviewing and cataloging deviations from the manual; and final review of what pieces of TEA3 went well and what pieces need to be further adapted in the future.	Within one week of the final intervention session
Acceptability of TEA3 intervention	This will be assessed from summary statistics calculated from survey questions completed by participants relating to dimensions of affective attitude (how the individual feels about the intervention); burden (perceived effort required to participate); ethicality (extent to which the intervention fits with the individual's value system), perceived effectiveness, and whether they would recommend the intervention to a friend.	Within one week of the final intervention session

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Efficacy of TEA3 intervention	This will be assessed from participant answers to baseline and post-test surveys that use validated scales to measure five intermediary outcomes that account for EAAA's effect on reducing victimization: earlier detection of risk in coercive situations; greater risk perception of acquaintance rape; lower rape myth acceptance; knowledge of, and willingness to use evidence-based forceful verbal and physical resistance in a hypothetical situation; and earlier identification of 'discomfort' and earlier willingness to leave a hypothetical situation. The sexual assault victimization outcome measure for a future RCT, a validated trans adaptation of the Sexual Experiences Survey, will also be used.	Within one week of the final intervention session

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Sarah Peitzmeier
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Sarah Peitzmeier, PhD, University of Maryland, College Park

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Peitzmeier SM, Ashwell L, Adams MP, Edwards K, Senn CY. The IDEA3 pilot trial: feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an online adaptation of an evidence-based intervention for campus sexual assault prevention. BMC Womens Health. 2026 Jun 3. doi: 10.1186/s12905-026-04551-7. Online ahead of print.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): September 2, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 30, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 10, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 10, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): July 15, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 15, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 10, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: #1670-1; N/A (Internal grant) (Other Grant/Funding Number: University of Maryland)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Data from video recordings contain identifiers including participant images and names which cannot be removed, and will therefore remain non-public. Deidentified survey data from initial screener surveys can be made available upon reasonable request and with IRB approval.

Drug and device information, study documents

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