University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (
Miller, Jones, Culyba, Paglisotti, Dwarakanath, Massof, Feinstein, Abebe); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC (
Ports); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education (
Espelage); Population Council (
Garg, Kato-Wallace) The changes in intentions to intervene are promising, and literature suggests that improvement in bystander attitudes may translate to reduced violence perpetration at the individual level over time. Prevention of sexual violence (SV) and adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) requires modifying the behaviours of perpetrators. Prior research has found that gender-transformative approaches that encourage development of healthy masculinities (i.e., respectful sexual behaviours and exploration of masculinity norms that promote gender equity), combined with bystander skills development, may be helpful in improving sexual health and reducing SV and ARA perpetration. This cluster-randomise
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IMAGE: When community leaders engage teenage boys in programming designed to either teach healthy masculinity or job readiness skills, reports of sexual violence among the boys went down. view more
Credit: UPMC
PITTSBURGH, Dec. 22, 2020 - Through small, neighborhood classes, researchers at UPMC Children s Hospital of Pittsburgh and Promundo-US significantly reduced sexual violence among teenage boys living in areas of concentrated disadvantage.
The study, published today in
JAMA, is the culmination of a large Centers for Disease Control and Prevention clinical trial spanning 20 racially segregated neighborhoods in the Pittsburgh area to evaluate two violence prevention programs. The proportion of youth reporting the use of sexual or partner violence in their relationships decreased in both groups by about 12 percentage points.