The program aims to drink alcohol, unsafe sex and sexual assault on university campuses

According to a new report in the Journal of Study on Alcohol and Drugs, prevention programs that teach you about links between dangerous drinking and sexual assault, as well as how to protect yourself and your friends, show early promises.

It is well known that alcohol and sex can be a dangerous mix for young adults. Alcoholism increases the chances of having an unprotected gender, possibly contracting a sexually transmitted disease or having an unexpected pregnancy. Drinking alcohol can increase your risk of becoming a victim or perpetrator of sexual assault.

However, university prevention programs have traditionally addressed closely related issues individually and have essentially addressed them with “silos.”

Therefore, a team of researchers from Lehigh and Brown University led by Napper and Dr. Shannon Kenney have designed an all-in-one program aimed at reducing the risk of drinking and risk of sexual harm in university students’ problems.

First, it addressed students’ misconceptions about fellow drinking and sexual behavior (destroyed the myth that heavy drinking and casual sex were rampaging on campus). They then taught them practical skills they could use to protect themselves and their friends when they went out to parties or bars.

For example, Napper explained that students can plan to check in with friends while they are out, plan to go home, and decide that no one in their group of friends will be left behind. The program also covered “bystander intervention” skills. How to intervene when your friend is at risk of drinking too much or being sexually abusive.

Such interventions need not be confrontational, Napper said. There are also “subtle” ways to disrupt potentially dangerous situations and change dynamics.

For this study, the researchers randomly assigned 217 university students to participate in the program, called splashes (sexually positive lifestyle: coping with alcohol and sexual health), or in a nutrition and exercise program. Students from the Splash program met in small groups in two 90-minute sessions. The sessions were guided by “facilitators,” but in many cases they were dedicated to students discussing the issues and learning from each other, Napper said.

Overall, researchers have discovered that Splash is a hit. Over 90% of participants said it was helpful and recommended it to their friends. Compared with peers in nutrition and exercise programs, Splash participants also showed a more realistic perception of peer students’ openness to on-campus drinking, sexual behavior, and bystander interventions.

That’s important, Napper said, because our perceptions of what others are doing or accepting, whether we know it or not, can often affect our own actions.

“As a person can therefore change these perceptions, it may change students’ behavior over time,” Napper said.

It takes much more research to see if a splash program can actually create those changes. However, according to Napper, the initial findings are promising. Ultimately, she said the goal is to help create a campus culture “where we are all supporting and looking for each other.”