SPA Associate Professor Jane E. Palmer and Justice, Law & Criminology PhD student Melissa L. Kilmer, along with coauthor Leila Wood (University of Texas - Houston), have published "The Impact of a University Sexual Assault Prevention Program on Student Comfort with Help-Seeking," in the journal Violence Against Women.

To reduce sexual victimization on college campuses, many institutions offer mandatory sexual assault prevention programs for students. To determine how such programs affect willingness to access campus resources, the team examined college students at a mid-sized university in an urban setting (n=2,100), using a quasi-experimental design to compare students who received the program with those who did not. Meanwhile, the many other barriers to reporting include gender, race, sexual orientation, past experiences with services, and past victimization, as well as a lack of knowledge about campus resources and low confidence levels in the help available.

"We know that there are several things that affect whether someone will seek help after sexual violence," said Palmer. "Universities can be safe spaces to disclose victimization if the offices are appropriately resourced. Seeking help is the first step in a healing journey, and we need to make sure these resources are trauma-informed and survivor-centered."

As Palmer's graduate assistant, Kilmer explored literature related to campus sexual assault and prevention and analyzed longitudinal survey data that Palmer began to collect 15 years ago while she was a doctoral student at AU. For this study, the authors used data collected between 2015 and 2019.

While research has shown the effects of prevention programs on knowledge about services, less is known about actual comfort seeking services, which the authors recognized as a potential driver of help-seeking behavior. Such programs, though largely effective in reducing victimization rates and changing attitudes, can vary significantly by campus, impacting their ability to address outcome goals (e.g., increasing student knowledge and comfort, decreasing violent victimization rates, and lowering rape myth acceptance).

"Program effectiveness can vary by audience and format," said Kilmer. For example, "some programs may frame victimization in a way that hinders inclusion for LGBTQ+ student participants. It is important for university staff to . . . take an inclusive approach to ensure all student participants experience the same benefits."

The program in question, Palmer said, included an element promoting available resources on campus. "Further, the university where this study took place required the sexual assault prevention program and would even put a hold on a student's account if they didn't complete it. Not all universities are that strict about their supposed mandate."

Survey questions tracked 1) whether participation in a mandatory sexual assault prevention program predicted student comfort levels with utilizing campus resources, 2) the details of this relationship, and 3) whether treatment effects persisted after accounting for student characteristics (e.g., race, gender identity, sexual orientation, Greek life participation, and previous victimization).

Their analysis revealed that participants displayed greater levels of comfort related to seeking help on-campus. Two of the three treated groups had higher comfort ratings, even after accounting for student characteristics. Further, White students had an increased probability of higher comfort ratings, while identifying as a woman and having experienced prior victimization were associated with lower probabilities of high comfort ratings.

The authors hope that future research can increase generalization of these findings, through improved participant diversity, cross-institutional variability, and the inclusion of a qualitative component examining the experiences of marginalized students.

"It is important to know that student knowledge and comfort increased, but it would also be helpful to know whether these students ever accessed help on-campus if they needed it," said Palmer. "It is a self-reinforcing cycle - if students are comfortable seeking help, and the help they receive is positive, they will tell their friends . . . If students have negative experiences and tell their friends, then they won't seek help, which may delay the start of their healing journeys."