The Power of Friends in Reducing Sexual Assault Risk in College Women: A Preliminary Test of Dyad-Based Motivational Intervention Approach

Objective: Sexual assault (SA) is unfortunately common in U.S. college campuses. Friends are central to the social context of college women, and thus to the context of SA, and thus may play a key role in SA prevention. The objective of the present study was to provide a preliminary test of a novel friend-based motivational intervention (FMI) that encourages and prepares friends to work together to reduce SA risk. Method: In a pilot trial, 51 friend dyads (N = 102) were randomized to either FMI or waitlist control (WLC) conditions and then followed over 3 months. Participant perceptions of the intervention and intervention-associated outcomes (engagement in friend-based assault protective behaviors [FAPB], readiness to change, barriers, sexual assault occurrences) were examined. Results: Those in the FMI reported greater readiness to engage in efforts to protect their friend against SA and reported higher rates of FAPB across time points relative to the WLC. Though not statistically significant, women in the FMI also reported half as many incidences of SA at the 3-month follow-up. We did not observe decreases in perceived barriers to intervening that were targeted with the FMI. Participant feedback on their experiences with the FMI was positive; women reported that FMI was empowering, personally relevant, and useful. Conclusions: Findings point to the promise of this dyad-based motivational intervention that capitalizes on the natural resource of women's friendships to decrease risk for sexual assault. What is the public health significance of this article? This randomized controlled trial provided a preliminary test of a friend-based motivational intervention that encourages and prepares friends to work together to reduce sexual assault risk. Findings suggest that friend-based motivational intervention is a novel and promising way to empower female friends to work together to decrease risk for sexual assault-a pervasive public health problem for young adult women in the United States.