The Efficacy of the SUN Program in Adolescents

Summary

This research project will develop, deliver, and evaluate a new school-based sexual violence prevention program for high-school adolescents. The SUN program (Stand Up Now against sexual violence) aims to prevent the occurrence of sexual violence among adolescents. The program approaches sexual violence as a complex phenomenon which occurs in many contexts throughout life. This program approaches specific concepts associated with sexual violence, such as sexual consent, while acknowledging the association between this form of violence and other violent phenomena. The program uses a bystander approach to support adolescents in the development of bystander attitudes and behaviors, which can be used in situations where the risk of sexual violence may be present. These may include behaviors such as confronting someone who is trying to take advantage of another person or reporting someone who committed sexual violence. The program aims to reduce myths associated with sexual violence, to increase empathy in this context and to improve bystander skills. Program sessions will combine group discussions with skills-building exercises.

This study will apply the SUN program in school settings and compare the adolescents who will take part in the program with adolescents who will not. The study will evaluate changes in sexual violence myths, sexism, empathy, and bystander attitudes and behaviors. The authors hypothesize that by decreasing myths associated with sexual violence and sexism, and by increasing empathy in this context, the program will be able to increase the adolescents' capacity to intervene in real-world situations to prevent sexual violence (i.e., bystander attitudes and behaviors). Additionally, the programs' acceptability will be assessed through focus groups conducted with students. It is expected that this project will improve scientific knowledge regarding sexual violence prevention.

Conditions

• Sexual Violence

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

The SUN Program

The SUN Program is a manualized bystander program for high-school adolescents. The program includes ten 50-to-60 minute weekly sessions. The central contents of the program include sexual and reproductive rights, sexual violence throughout the lifespan in different contexts, bystander attitudes and behaviors, and empathy. Every session includes psychoeducation components as well as skills-training moments. The sessions must be delivered by two psychologists with supervision. Session contents are divided as following: Session 1: Introduction to sexual violence and sexual rights; Session 2: Sexual violence: behaviors and contexts, Session 3: Sexual consent; Session 4: Sexual violence myths; Session 5: Sexual violence in intimate relationships; Session 6: The role of the bystanders; Session 7: The bystander effect; Session 8: Bystander intervention; Session 9: Empathy; Session 10: Summary

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Coimbra

  collaborator OTHER

• Aveiro University

  collaborator OTHER

• Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal

  collaborator OTHER

• Center for Psychology at the University of Porto, Portugal

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Universidade do Porto

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Joana Carvalho, PhD · William James Center for Research, Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro

• Eunice Carmo, MSc · Center for Psychology at University of Porto

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

12 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-06-01

Primary Completion

2025-12-31

Completion

2025-12-31

Countries

• Portugal

Study Locations