Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

Risk Communication is used in health behavior studies to communicate different health risks to people. Research in communication studies and health behavior applies the Protection Motivation theory to explore the role of moderating variables in the acceptance and use of such risk communications. This study explores the applicability of protection motivation theory to processing of date rape risk communication by college students. Date rape risk communication is a key component of Education-based Date Rape Prevention programs that are implemented across US colleges. Evaluations of such programs also point to individual factors that moderate the effect of risk communication (Yeater & Donahue, 1999). This study uses the protection motivation theoretical framework to study the role of dating activity, dating status, and social competency as moderators in processing date rape risk communication (Norris et al, 1996). It is hypothesized that the effect of date rape risk communication will be moderated by the participants' levels of social competency and dating activity. The study used a convenience sample (n=400) of female, undergraduate students between 18 and 22 years of age, enrolled in a large Southern Public University. The participants were randomly assigned to three groups. Each group was provided with one of three different types of brochures (high, low, and no-risk brochures) that communicated date rape risk. The moderating variables in the study were measured by a Dating Activity Scale (Prisbell, 1987); a Social Competency Scale was composed of 20 items drawn from the Social Performance Survey Schedule (Lowe, & Cautela, 1978). The dependent variable of risk assessment was measured by a Protection Motivated Dating Attitude and Behavior Intent scale (PMDABI) (Burt, 1980; Fischer, &Chen, 1994; Hickman, & Muehlenhard, 1997; Price & Buyers, 1989). As part of the data analysis, the three different scales were factor analyzed. A factorial MANCOVA was conducted with the different factors. The date rape risk brochures did not report a significant association with PMABI scores. However, according to the reported Pillai's' Trace reported from the MANCOVA, participants' score on the PMABI scale were significantly different (at p <0.05) when grouped by the year of study in undergraduate study (F= 4.99, df= 9), level of dating satisfaction (F= 3.47, df= 3), and negative social competency (F= 3.06, df= 3). A simple contrast output reported that the first year students were significantly different from the second, third, and fourth year students on knowledge component. The means on the factors of PMABI did not report a large difference when grouped by study year and dating status. These findings support the argument that moderating variables play a role in perception of date rape risk. The study had some limitations due to the use of non-probability sampling method and a weak intervention. Nonetheless, the study makes an important contribution by highlighting the role of moderating variables in acceptance of Date Rape Risk-communication by the study population. It also supports the use of interdisciplinary theories, such as protection motivation theory to identify moderating variables that can add to the effectiveness of date rape prevention programs.