School of Public and Allied Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Tithebarn Street, Liverpool, L2 2ER, UK.
School of Nursing and Advanced Practice, Liverpool John Moores University, Tithebarn Street, Liverpool, L2 2ER, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Mar 6;24(1):729. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18210-9.
Violence is a leading cause of death and disability for young people and has serious impacts on prospects across the lifecourse. The education sector is a crucial setting for preventing youth violence through incorporating programmes that address attitudes and behaviours. The Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) programme aims to change harmful attitudes and norms, and increase non-violent bystander intervention, through a peer mentoring approach. To date there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of the intervention in UK school settings. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of the programme on students' attitudes and knowledge related to violence prevention.
The study employed a mixed methods design. Pre and post surveys measured changes in students' (aged 11-18) attitudes and knowledge related to violence prevention and bystander behaviour, gender stereotyping, acceptability of violence, and perceptions of others' willingness to intervene. Interviews/focus groups with programme delivers and students, and anonymised programme data were used to explore and supplement survey findings.
Overall, perceptions of the programme content and delivery were positive. Several beneficial impacts of the programme were found for mentors (students delivering the programme), including significant positive changes on measures of knowledge and attitudes towards violence prevention and the bystander approach, acceptability of violence perpetration, and perceptions of other students' willingness to intervene (effect sizes were small-medium). However, the study found no significant change on any of the outcomes amongst mentees (younger students receiving the programme from mentors). Despite this, qualitative evidence suggested mentees enjoyed the content of the programme and the peer-led delivery, and this built relationships with older students. Qualitative evidence also identified additional benefits of the programme for mentors, including leadership and communication skills, and increased confidence and supportive relationships.
Evidence from this study suggests MVP is effective as a targeted programme for mentors, but no significant evidence was found to demonstrate its effectiveness as a universal bystander and violence prevention programme for mentees. Whilst further research with more robust study design is needed, developing mentors as leaders in violence prevention is a valuable impact of the programme in its own right.
暴力是导致年轻人死亡和残疾的主要原因，对整个生命过程中的前景都有严重影响。教育部门是通过实施针对态度和行为的项目来预防青少年暴力的关键场所。预防暴力的导师（MVP）项目旨在通过同伴导师制改变有害的态度和规范，增加非暴力的旁观者干预。迄今为止，关于该干预措施在英国学校环境中的有效性的证据有限。本研究的目的是评估该计划对学生预防暴力相关的态度和知识的影响。
该研究采用混合方法设计。在学生（年龄 11-18 岁）中进行了预调查和后调查，以测量与预防暴力和旁观者行为、性别刻板印象、对暴力的接受程度以及对他人干预意愿的看法相关的态度和知识的变化。对项目的实施者和学生进行访谈/焦点小组讨论，并使用匿名的项目数据来探讨和补充调查结果。
总体而言，对项目内容和实施的看法是积极的。该项目对导师（实施项目的学生）产生了一些有益的影响，包括在预防暴力和旁观者方法的知识和态度、对暴力行为的可接受性以及对其他学生干预意愿的看法方面有显著的积极变化（效果大小为小到中等）。然而，研究发现，在接受导师项目的年轻学生（被试者）的任何结果中都没有显著变化。尽管如此，定性证据表明，被试者喜欢该项目的内容和同伴主导的实施方式，并与年长的学生建立了关系。定性证据还发现，该项目对导师的额外好处，包括领导力和沟通技巧，以及增加信心和支持性的关系。
本研究的证据表明，MVP 作为针对导师的有针对性的项目是有效的，但没有发现任何显著证据表明其作为针对被试者的普遍旁观者和预防暴力项目是有效的。虽然需要进一步进行更具稳健性研究设计的研究，但将导师发展为预防暴力的领导者本身就是该项目的一个有价值的影响。
