A Sexual Violence Bystander Intervention Program for Adults Who Work with Youth: Feasibility and Acceptability Testing

Background and purpose: Bystander interventions are among the most promising sexual violence prevention strategies that have been rigorously evaluated. Although emerging research underscores the impact of teachers on social norms and the promise of engaging teachers and adults who work with youth in violence prevention, programs rarely involve these adults in bystander intervention training. Teacher Talk is the first online bystander intervention program designed to provide knowledge and skills to adults working with youth ages 10-18 to safely and effectively intervene with and help prevent peer-to-peer sexual violence. The current presentation will share findings from Teacher Talk feasibility and acceptability testing that explored ease of program navigation; program strengths, areas for enhancement, quality, and helpfulness; and promise for creating positive changes in knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors found in prior research to be related to violence reduction.

Methods: From October 2024-September 2025, youth-serving adults, including K-12 educators and staff members, social workers, mental health professionals, and others who work with youth ages 10-18, participated in this evaluation. Participants were asked to complete the two-module program and brief pre- and post-surveys made up of items developed by the Teacher Talk team and pre-existing, validated measures. Among the 284 people who enrolled, 179 completed at least one part of Teacher Talk, 117 completed the entire program, and 126 completed at least a portion of the pre-survey and/or post-survey. Surveys assessed potential changes from pre- to post-program in knowledge and beliefs about sexual violence, bystander self-efficacy and intention to intervene, and confidence in helping behavior. Post-surveys also assessed system usability and quality, helpfulness of program components, and overall program feedback. Pre- and post-surveys were matched for 50 participants. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were used to analyze data.

Results: Overall on scales ranging from 1 (most negative) to 5 (most positive), participants found Teacher Talk modules enjoyable (M3.65, Mdn=4), useful (M=3.82, Mdn=4), easy to use (M=4.11, Mdn=4), and attention-keeping (M=3.63, Mdn=4) and found program components helpful (range of mean scores: 3.38–4.15) and of good quality (range: 3.58–3.95). Only six participants reported having technical difficulties (9.52%), and the mean system usability scores was 82.43 out of 100 (SD=14.30), demonstrating good usability. Bivariate tests indicated significant positive change from pre- to post-program in self-efficacy to intervene (t=-6.92, p<.001), bystander efficacy (t=-6.10, p<.001), intention to intervene (t=-3.93, p<.001), confidence in helping behavior (t=-5.32, p<.001), beliefs about sexual violence prevention (t=-2.19, p<.001), and knowledge about sexual harassment and assault (t=-7.36, p<.001).

Conclusions and Implications: Overall, study participants reported positive experiences with Teacher Talk. They rated the program components as useful, enjoyable, and easy to use and all evaluated outcomes were positively improved post-program. These results support further evaluation of the program and a larger, more rigorous study on the effectiveness of the program. Findings also highlight opportunities for strengthening current program components and ideas for additional content like in-person discussions and interactive scenarios.