Event-Level Analysis of Alcohol Use and Bystander Behavior in Social Drinking Contexts: A Novel Approach to Inform Alcohol-Related Sexual Assault Prevention

Project Summary The long-term objective of the proposed K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award is to support the applicant in building an independent program of research. The applicant is dedicated to a career as a clinical scientist with a research focus on the examination of risk and protective factors for alcohol- related sexual violence and bystander behavior. Ultimately, she aims to conduct research that will inform violence prevention efforts to reduce the occurrence of alcohol-related sexual assault and its associated public health burden. Her career development plan has been tailored to expand upon her interests and training to date and launch her career as one of the few experts in the growing research area of bystander alcohol intoxication. Through the unique training experiences made possible by this award, she will develop expertise in qualitative methods and analysis, intensive longitudinal data collection, and advanced statistical analysis for multilevel data. These skills will be solidified over the course of a 5-year training plan, which involves mentored training experiences (including guided readings, manuscript development, grant writing, meetings) and independent training activities (including coursework, seminars, workshops, and presentations). Members of the mentorship team are experts in their respective fields and their complementary expertise will address distinct training needs of the applicant. Brown University’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies in the School of Public Health provides an exceptional training environment with an extraordinary record of research and an impressive history of successfully mentoring early investigators through the transition to independence. The primary objective of the proposed research project is to answer key questions about bystanders in drinking contexts. Bystander-focused sexual violence prevention has proliferated in the last decade, though a consideration of the importance of bystander alcohol use has emerged much more recently. Alcohol use—one of the most robust predictors of sexual assault—is commonly present when bystanders have an opportunity to combat sexual assault risk. The proposed project will use weekend morning reports about the prior evening to elucidate the event-level effects of bystander alcohol intoxication and related contextual predictors on bystander outcomes. Focus groups will be used following completion of the weekend morning reports to deepen understanding of the quantitative results and inform bystander-focused sexual violence prevention. The proposed award is consistent with training and research priorities of NIAAA’s strategic plan, including cultivating a talented and diverse research workforce to advance the frontiers of scientific knowledge and continuing to support research with implications for alcohol-related violence prevention.