RealConsent: A web-based program to reduce college women's risk of sexual violence by targeting alcohol use, communication and consent, and building supportive networks.

Sexual violenceSVexperienced by women on college campuses is a serious public health problem that has garnered a national responseCampus climate surveys show that approximately one in five college women experience sexual violenceFederal regulations now mandate implementation of educational prevention programs for new students of institutions of higher educationIHEsBest practices for sexual violence prevention involve the design of programs that target both men for prevention and women for risk reductionThis Fast Track STTR proposal integrates both behavioral science and emerging technologies in a genderspecific web based program targeting female college studentsRealConsent is designed to reduce young women s risk for sexual assault by aincreasing young women s awareness of the risks of alcohol usebenhancing the skills necessary for engaging in alcohol related protective behaviorscraising awareness of dating related risk factors for victimizationdteaching effective resistance strategiesand eRealConsent will incorporate high level production qualityeducational entertainmentdidactic methodsand interactive problembased learning via a web portalOur long term goal is to disseminate the program to IHEs nation wide and contribute to a significant reduction in sexual violence incidence and associated morbidityThe specific aims for Phase I of this project areAimDevelop oneminute alcohol awareness and risk reduction web based module specific to female college studentsThis module will represent one module of a more comprehensivefour module web based programAimAssess the acceptability and feasibility of the web based alcohol risk reduction module to increase alcohol protective behaviors among female college studentsFocus groups and a pilot study with female college students will test the module for acceptability and feasibilityOnce milestones for Phase I are achievedPhase II will begin and aims are toAimDevelop modules two four of the webbased programthe web portal for delivery of the program and the administrator dashboardAimDetermine efficacy of RealConsent in reducing incidence of sexual assault victimizationA randomized controlled trial implemented among a sample offemale college students attending three diversesoutheastern universities will test the program for its efficacynwomen will be randomly assigned to RealConsent and nwill be assigned to an attention placebo comparison programAssessments will occur online at baselineprior to randomizationand atmonth post intervention follow upWe will then develop final versions of the interactive web based program for marketability to IHEs