# Bystander Intervention for Alcohol-Related Risk Behavior: Instrument Development & Validation

> **NIH NIH R21** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $192,651

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Alcohol misuse is most prevalent among individuals in their late teens and early to mid-twenties, and the peer-
intensive environment is a primary influencer of alcohol use and its associated consequences. Most alcohol
prevention and intervention programs for young adults do not include peers as a part of the intervention, and
so do not result in culture change. Bystander intervention training, which is grounded in theories of prosocial
helping, focuses on educating people about risky situations and encouraging them to take action to help others
reduce their risk. The applicability of bystander intervention for prevention of problematic alcohol use is
obvious, but the development of this promising new direction for alcohol intervention is hindered by the current
lack of valid and reliable measures of the multiple pertinent constructs. Established researchers with expertise
in college alcohol use, bystander intervention, and qualitative and quantitative methods will use guidance from
theory, current measures from sexual assault bystander intervention, and a rigorous mixed methods approach
to develop a battery of valid and reliable instruments for use in alcohol-related bystander intervention research
and programming. The specific aims are to: (1) identify alcohol bystander-related constructs and related
survey items utilizing focus groups with young adults (8 groups; N = 64 participants), (2) refine the
measurement constructs and items using cognitive interviews with a separate sample (N = 20), and (3)
conduct a thorough psychometric evaluation of the derived instruments using a nationally representative panel
of young adults (N = 600). Eight established bystander constructs that will serve as a starting point are:
readiness to help, perception of peer helping and peer approval of helping, intent to help, bystander self-
efficacy, barriers to helping, consequences of intervening, and bystander behaviors. Analysis of focus group
data will include open and axial coding of transcripts by multiple coders; the cognitive interview methods will
include structured probes about item content and directed modification of survey wording; the psychometric
evaluation will use factor analysis, item response theory, test-retest reliability, and convergent and discriminant
validity evaluation for all of the measurement instruments. This proposal has the potential to have a strong
impact because federal guidelines now recommend implementing BI training programs on college campuses
for all incoming students. This research will produce a set of psychometrically sound measures that will be
aligned with the putative mechanisms of bystander intervention programs, thus ensuring the accurate program
evaluation and cross-study comparison necessary to build better interventions to address alcohol misuse and
its associated problems among young adults.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9917678
- **Project number:** 5R21AA026740-02
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** NANCY P BARNETT
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $192,651
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9917678

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9917678, Bystander Intervention for Alcohol-Related Risk Behavior: Instrument Development & Validation (5R21AA026740-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9917678. Licensed CC0.

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