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

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:

• 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.
• 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).

Inclusion criteria

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