Preventing Sexual Violence Perpetration through Youth Empowerment

Background/Purpose: Youth are more vulnerable to multiple and co-occurring forms of violence than any other age group, and those who experience one form of violence are at greater risk for subsequent victimization. Further, those who perpetrate violence in one context are likely to perpetrate violence in other contexts or types of victim-offender relationships.

The YES-HR (Youth Empowerment Solutions for Healthy Relationships) curriculum is an adaptation of the YES (Youth Empowerment Solutions; Zimmerman et al., 2011) program designed to enhance youth empowerment to support positive developmental outcomes (e.g., school achievement, pro-social behavior) and reduce adverse outcomes (e.g., youth violence). YES-HR supports youth/adult collaboration to plan and implement community change projects. Using empowerment and social-ecological models, the project intervenes at school and community levels, using trauma-informed and culturally sensitive approaches to change environments, hypothesized to filter down to individual characteristics and behavior. All 8^th grade students in intervention schools participated in the curriculum one day per week throughout the academic year.

Methods: The YES-HR study was implemented using a prospective cohort design in which 2,504 youth completed at least one survey over four years from 2017 – 2020. Only the data from the second cohort of the study are included in this analysis (n = 1,089), as the first cohort was a pilot and COVID-19 disrupted the third. Youth from six school districts were recruited to participate in the study. An equal number of participants in the treatment and comparison schools were randomly sampled into the research study.

The outcome variable was perpetration of sexual violence and harassment. Response options from the Safe Dates Dating Violence Perpetration scales and Revised Conflict Tactics Scale were modified to include electronic dating aggression. Participants in the study were grouped into three intervention categories. Those who did not participate in the intervention were the comparison group. Classrooms in the intervention group were categorized as high or low fidelity based on classroom observations. Fidelity measures were assessed by two classroom observers, one time per month, based on adherence to the curriculum, communication of objectives, student engagement and participation, respectful treatment of students, teacher preparedness, teacher comfort, and overall session performance.

Results: The analysis examined differences among the comparison and intervention groups using logistic regression. Sexual violence perpetration was significantly lower among youth in classrooms where the curriculum was implemented with high fidelity compared to the low fidelity or comparison groups. This difference was found both at post-test and six-month follow-up. Sexual violence perpetration was also significantly lower among the low fidelity group, compared to the comparison group, but only at the six-month follow-up. Race and gender were not significant in any models.

Conclusion and Implications: The YES-HR curriculum shows promise in reducing perpetration of sexual violence among youth as they transition from middle to high school. Fidelity to the intervention increases the program's effects, particularly as it relates to core values of respect, student empowerment, and communication.