College students' feelings of campus connectedness, party safety behavior and intervening to prevent sexual assault and intimate partner violence

Objective: This research examines associations between college students' feelings of campus connectedness and two types of prosocial bystander intervention behavior to prevent sexual assault: party safety behavior and intervening in high-risk situations. Method: Short-term longitudinal associations between college students' feelings of campus connectedness and bystander intervention behavior were examined in three studies. Study 1 (n = 213) examined these associations over a 1-month period. Study 2 (n = 557) was designed to replicate findings from Study 1 in a larger, more diverse sample. Study 3 (n = 730) was designed to replicate and extend findings with party safety behavior from Studies 1 and 2 over a 2-month period. Study 3 also examined whether frequency of party attendance and feelings of responsibility might help explain the association between campus connectedness and party safety behavior. In each of the three studies, students were recruited from multiple universities; students reported on feelings of campus connectedness at baseline and on bystander behavior at baseline and follow-up assessments. Results: In each study, students' feelings of campus connectedness predicted party safety behavior at follow-up, controlling for party safety behavior at baseline. Feelings of campus connectedness were not associated with intervening in high-risk situations. In Study 3, frequency of party attendance and feelings of responsibility did not explain the association between campus connectedness and party safety behavior. Conclusion: Feelings of campus connectedness may be important to consider in campus efforts to prevent sexual assault.