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Perceptions of Peer Helping

Perceptions of Peer Helping is a 20-item measure of descriptive norms of how respondents view their friends as active bystanders to sexual and relationship abuse that college students might encounter on campus.

Categories

Geographies Tested: United States of America

Populations Included: Female, Male, Transgender

Age Range: Adolescents, Adults

Items:

Please use the following scale to rate how likely YOUR FRIENDS are to do each of the following behaviors.

1. Ask a stranger if they need to be walked home from a party or get their friends to do it.
2. Criticize a friend who says they had sex with someone who was passed out or didn't give consent.
3. Do something to help a very intoxicated person who is being brought upstairs to a bedroom by a group of people at a party.
4. Do something to help a person who has had too much to drink and is passed out.
5. Tell a campus of community authority if they see a person who has had too much to drink and is passed out.
6. Do something if they see a woman surrounded by a group of men at a party who looks very uncomfortable.
7. Express discomfortconcern if someone makes a joke about a woman's body or about gayslesbians or someone of a different race.
8. Knock on the door to see if everything is all right if they hear sounds of fighting or arguing through dorm or apartment walls.
9. Go to a resident advisor (RA) or resident hall director (RHD), other campus or community resource for advice on how to help if they suspect someone they know is in an abusive relationship.
10. Accompany a friend to the police department or other community resource if they needed help for an abusive relationship.
11. Ask a stranger who looks very upset at a party if they are okay or need help.
12. Ask a friend if they need to be walked home from a party.
13. Talk to people they know about the impact of using language that is negative toward groups like gayslesbianswomenpeople of color.
14. Speak up to someone who is making excuses for using physical force in a relationship.
15. Speak up to someone who is calling hisher partner names or swearing at them.
16. Contact a community resource (e.g., counseling center, RA) to discuss concerns about a friend who may be in distress.
17. Educate themselves about sexual abuse and intimate partner abuse prevention and share this information with others.
18. Approach a friend if they thought she was in an abusive relationship to let them know they were there to help.
19. Step in and say something to someone they knew who was grabbing or pushing their partner.
20. Go to a community resource (crisis center, counseling center, police, professor, supervisor, etc.) if they saw someone grabbing or pushing their partner.

Response Options:
5-point Likert scale
Not at all likely - 1
Extremely likely - 5

Scoring Procedures

The mean of the 20 items is calculated for the total measure score.

Original Citation

Banyard, V. L., Moynihan, M. M., Cares, A. C., & Warner, R. (2014). How do we know if it works? Measuring outcomes in bystander-focused abuse prevention on campuses. Psychology of Violence, 4(1), 101-115. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033470


Psychometric Score

Ease of Use Score

Scoring breakdown

Formative Research

Qualitative Research

Existing Literature/Theoretical Framework

Field Expert Input

Cognitive Interviews / Pilot Testing

Reliability

Internal

Test-retest

Interrater

Validity

Content

Face

Criterion (gold-standard)

Construct

KEY

Ease of Use

Readability

Scoring Clarity

Length

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