Objective: The present study investigated the well-being of bystanders who witness and intervene in sexual assault and dating violence situations on campus.
Participants: Participants were 321 young men and women from a large university in the southeastern United States.
Methods: Participants completed a survey at the end of the Spring semester of 2015 about risky situations they had witnessed, with follow-up questions about their responses to the situations (eg, whether they intervened or not) and feelings about their responses. Participants also completed standardized measures of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression.
Results: Over 90% of the participants reported witnessing at least 1 of the risky events presented to them, and approximately 50% reported intervening in events. Intervening was associated with positive feelings, but traumatic stress symptoms were related to witnessing events and intervening.
Conclusions: Results have direct implications for developing appropriate training programs for bystander intervention programs on college campuses.
Keywords: College; dating violence; prevention; sexual assault; vicarious trauma.