# Biphasic Effects of Acute Alcohol Intoxication on Bystander Intervention for Sexual Violence

> **NIH NIH R21** · GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $224,250

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
Sexual violence victimization is a serious public health problem resulting in significant mental and physical
health consequences and a financial burden of $3.1 trillion over the course of survivors' lifetimes, of which the
government is estimated to pay $1 trillion. Alcohol is involved in over half of sexual assaults; however, bystander
training programs do not yet target bystander alcohol intoxication, likely due to the dearth of evidence on how
alcohol intoxication impacts sexual violence intervention. Indeed, only two published studies have assessed the
role of bystander alcohol intoxication on sexual violence intervention. Towards this end, the impetus for the
proposed project is to address four critical gaps in the current scientific evidence base: (1) research on intoxicated
bystanders is limited to high levels of intoxication (target blood alcohol concentration [BAC] = .10%) on the
ascending limb of the BAC curve where both activating and sedating effects are prominent and decrease
intervention; (2) gender differences have not been examined among intoxicated bystanders; (3) research has
only assessed the effects of alcohol on direct bystander intervention methods despite a range of in-the-moment
methods bystanders can employ; and (4) it is unclear how alcohol intoxication may interact with modifiable
individual-level predictors (e.g., prosocial bystander attitudes) targeted in bystander training programs.
Understanding among whom and when alcohol is most likely to impact barriers and intervention will allow
bystander training programs to target the window of greatest risk for bystander inaction and integrate alcohol
use content that minimizes the negative effects of alcohol that decrease sexual violence intervention. As such, the
proposed laboratory-based study seeks to test the independent (Aim 1) and interactive (Aim 2) effects of alcohol,
gender, and modifiable bystander attitudes on bystander barriers and sexual violence intervention. To address
these aims, 192 social drinking young adults (ages 21-30) will present to the laboratory. Participants will be
randomly assigned to one of two beverage conditions (alcohol with target BAC of .08% or control beverage). They
will then be assigned to one of two BAC limb conditions (ascending or descending limb). Upon reaching .055%
BrAC (ascending limb condition), two consecutive descending BAC limb (descending limb condition), or a yoked
wait time (sober condition for both ascending and descending limb), participants will project themselves into a
heat-of-the moment risky sexual violence scenario depicting a high-risk, sexually violent situation. Using the
articulated thoughts in simulated situations think-aloud paradigm, bystander barriers and intervention
intentions will be assessed during the situation. Findings will make a critical, formative contribution toward the
evidence base upon which existing programming efforts can draw from to enhance bystanders' skills in alcohol-
...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10517123
- **Project number:** 1R21AA029225-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ruschelle Marie Leone
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $224,250
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-08-15 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10517123

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10517123, Biphasic Effects of Acute Alcohol Intoxication on Bystander Intervention for Sexual Violence (1R21AA029225-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10517123. Licensed CC0.

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