Because intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault (SA) are major public health concerns, primary prevention strategies at all levels of the social ecology are critical. To date, however, there are few community- level IPV and SA prevention efforts that have been developed, implemented, and rigorously evaluated. The proposed study will test the effectiveness of a novel, community-level strategy (i.e., GreenDot Community) for preventing both IPV and SA. A quasi-experimental methodology will be utilized such that two communities will receive no intervention, one community will receive community-based components of GreenDot (i.e., bystander trainings), and two communities will receive the community-based components in addition to capacity building for social marketing campaign and action events hypothesized to be the catalysts of change for collective efficacy and injunctive norms. To evaluate the impacts of the community-level interventions, baseline data will be collected through multiple methods during year one of the grant and post-intervention data will be collected during year four of the grant. Multiple methods of data collection will be utilized and include: random-digit dial survey of adults, a school-based survey of adolescents (in addition to utilization of YRBS data specific to schools in participating communities), observation of hot spots, concept mapping, and content coding of social media sites. Analyses will determine if the community-level intervention leads to reductions in community rates of IPV and SA, in addition to determining the key mediating variables of these outcomes (i.e., increase collective efficacy and shift injunctive norms to be intolerant of gender-based violence) as well as moderation variables (e.g., demographic variables and community readiness). Ultimately the proposed project will shed light on whether a novel community-level IPV and SV prevention effort reduces rates of IPV and SV in communities (as well as mediating and moderating effects of such potential outcomes); if proven effective, GreenDot community could be used by communities across the U.S. in efforts to reduce gender-based violence.
The researchers of the proposed study will test the effectiveness of a novel, community-level strategy (i.e., GreenDot Community) for preventing both intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV). Hypothesized mechanisms of change (e.g., collective efficacy, injunctive norms) and reductions in community rates of IPV and SV will be assessed using novel and multiple methods of assessment. Ultimately the proposed project will shed light on if a novel community-level IPV and SV prevention effort reduces rates of IPV and SV in communities (as well as mediating and moderating effects of such potential outcomes); if proven effective, GreenDot community could be used by communities across the U.S. in efforts to reduce gender- based violence.
