# Harnessing the Power of Friends to Reduce Sexual Assault Risk

> **NIH NIH R34** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO · 2020 · $228,338

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Approximately 1 in 5 U.S. college women is sexually assaulted (SA), and nearly half of these assaults involve
alcohol. These assaults often occur in social settings, where others are present. Because of this, research has
begun to focus on ways in which those who are a part of this social environment (“bystanders”) may be
incorporated into assault prevention efforts. Seminal work by Latané and Darley (1970) underscores two
conditions that must be in place in order for others in the social environment to take preventive action: a
relationship with the potential victim, and a sense of personal responsibility to her. Without these, helping
behavior is unlikely to occur. Typically offered in group format, to general audiences of students who may not
socialize or even know one another, existing bystander-based interventions are unlikely to tap into the sense of
relationship or responsibility that would catalyze action. This is a missed opportunity. In contrast, relationship
and responsibility are the hallmark of friendships. Moreover, friends are central to the drinking context of
college women and to the context of SA. For all of these reasons, friends are optimally positioned to act to
prevent SA, and a focus on friends is a promising direction for intervention. Yet, data show that though women
want to help protect their friends against SA, they report a number of barriers regarding whether, when, and
how to do this. They also report lacking the necessary skills to intervene effectively. Thus, they do not feel
ready to engage in SA prevention. A friend-based, motivational intervention can address these barriers,
cultivating the relationship and responsibility that already exist between friends, and collaboratively addressing
challenges that stand in the way of helping behavior.
 Accordingly, the objective of the proposed study is to develop an innovative, friend-based motivational
intervention (FMI) that encourages and prepares friends to reduce SA risk. Delivered to pairs of friends
(dyads), the FMI will be designed to foster collaborative efforts to increase readiness for, and decrease barriers
to helping behavior, and to teach and plan together for assault prevention skills. As the role of alcohol has
been under-addressed in SA prevention efforts, the FMI also will explicitly attend to how intoxication may serve
as a barrier to friend intervention, and strategies for overcoming this barrier. The FMI will be developed in three
stages (1. Development, 2. Implementation & Refinement, 3. Preliminary Testing). In the final stage of the
project, the intervention will be tested in a randomized, controlled mini-trial (FMI vs. waitlist control). Friend
dyads will be followed in bi-weekly online assessments for 3 months to examine changes in helping attitudes
and behaviors. Feasibility, scalability, iatrogenic effects, and whether drinking influences intervention outcomes
also will be examined. Findings will offer rich information about how best t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9982734
- **Project number:** 5R34AA027046-03
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
- **Principal Investigator:** JENNIFER A LIVINGSTON
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $228,338
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-01 → 2022-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9982734

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9982734, Harnessing the Power of Friends to Reduce Sexual Assault Risk (5R34AA027046-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9982734. Licensed CC0.

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