Bystander Responses to College Dating Violence: Can We Educate Undergraduate Students Using an Online Intervention?

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to improve an online bystander intervention educational program (STOP Dating Violence; O'Brien et al., 2019) and conduct a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of this revised intervention. Specifically, the intervention was modified and converted into an engaging animated video and then tested for its effectiveness. College students (N=335) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) the STOP intervention, (2) a website containing information about dating violence, and (3) a control condition. Results indicated that students who viewed the STOP Dating Violence video intervention had the greatest knowledge of bystander interventions when compared to the website and control conditions. Thus, the STOP Dating Violence video has the potential to successfully educate undergraduates about appropriate bystander interventions for dating violence in a cost-effective manner.