TakeCARE, a Video Bystander Program to Help Prevent Sexual Violence on College Campuses: Results of Two Randomized, Controlled Trials

Objective: The present research reports on 2 randomized, controlled trials evaluating TakeCARE, a video bystander program designed to help prevent sexual violence on college campuses. Method: In Study 1, students were recruited from psychology courses at 2 universities. In Study 2, first-year students were recruited from a required course at 1 university. In both studies, students were randomly assigned to view 1 of 2 videos: TakeCARE or a control video on study skills. Just before viewing the videos, students completed measures of bystander behavior toward friends and ratings of self-efficacy for performing such behaviors. The efficacy measure was administered again after the video, and both the bystander behavior measure and the efficacy measure were administered at either 1 (Study 1) or 2 (Study 2) months later. Results: In both studies, students who viewed TakeCARE, compared with students who viewed the control video, reported engaging in more bystander behavior toward friends and greater feelings of efficacy for performing such behavior. In Study 1, feelings of efficacy mediated effects of TakeCARE on bystander behavior; this result did not emerge in Study 2. Conclusions: This research demonstrates that TakeCARE, a video bystander program, can positively influence bystander behavior toward friends. Given its potential to be easily distributed to an entire campus community, TakeCARE might be an effective addition to campus efforts to prevent sexual violence.