PISCATAWAY, NJ – A prevention program that teaches college students about the links between risky drinking and sexual assault—and how to protect themselves and their friends—has shown early promise, according to a new report in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
It's well known that alcohol and sex can sometimes be a dangerous mix for young adults. Alcohol intoxication raises the odds of having unprotected sex and, possibly, contracting a sexually transmitted disease or having an unplanned pregnancy. Drinking can also increase the risk of falling victim to sexual assault or becoming the perpetrator.
Yet college prevention programs have traditionally addressed those closely connected issues separately, essentially "siloing" them, said Lucy Napper, Ph.D., one of the lead authors on the new study and an associate professor of psychology at Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, Penn.
So a team of researchers at Lehigh University and Brown University, led by Napper and Shannon Kenney, Ph.D., designed an all-in-one program aimed at reducing college students' problem drinking and their risks of unsafe sex and sexual victimization. First, it addressed students' misperceptions around their peers' drinking and sexual behaviors (busting the myth that heavy drinking and casual unprotected sex were rampant on campus). Then it taught them practical skills they could use to protect themselves and their friends when they were out at parties or bars.
For example, Napper explained, students can have a plan for checking in with friends while they're out, have a plan for getting home and decide that no one in their friend group will be left behind. The program also covered "bystander intervention" skills—how to step in when a friend may be drinking too much or in danger of being sexually victimized. That kind of intervention, Napper said, doesn't have to be confrontational; there are also "subtle" ways to interrupt a potentially dangerous situation and change the dynamics.
For the study, the researchers randomly assigned 217 college students to either take part in the program, dubbed SPLASH (for Sex Positive Lifestyles: Addressing Alcohol and Sexual Health), or attend a nutrition-and-exercise program. Students in the SPLASH program met in small groups, for two 90-minute sessions. The sessions were led by "facilitators," but much of the time was devoted to students discussing the issues and learning from each other, Napper said.
Overall, the researchers found, SPLASH was a hit: Upwards of 90% of participants said it was helpful and they would recommend it to a friend. And compared with their peers in the nutrition-and-exercise program, SPLASH participants also showed more realistic perceptions of on-campus drinking, sexual behavior and their fellow students' openness to bystander intervention—differences that were still apparent six months later.
That's important, Napper said, because whether we're aware of it or not, our perceptions of what other people are doing, or approve of, can often influence our own behavior.
"So being able to shift those perceptions may also shift students' behavior over time," Napper said.
Larger studies are needed to confirm whether the SPLASH program can, in fact, create those changes. But the initial findings are promising, according to Napper. Ultimately, she said, the goal is to help create campus cultures where "we're all supporting and looking out for one another."
