Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, San Antonio, TX, United States.
Department of Population Health, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States.
JMIR Form Res. 2024 Oct 29;8:e64412. doi: 10.2196/64412.
Sexual harassment (SH) and sexual assault (SA) are serious public health problems among US service members. Few SH and SA prevention interventions have been developed exclusively for the military. Code of Respect (X-CoRe) is an innovative web-based, multilevel, SA and SH intervention designed exclusively for the active-duty Air Force. The program's goal is to increase Airmen's knowledge and skills to build and maintain respectful relationships, ultimately reducing SH and SA and enhancing Airmen's overall well-being and mission readiness.
This pilot study aimed to assess the short-term psychosocial impact (eg, knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy) of the web-based component of X-CoRe on a sample of junior enlisted and midlevel Airmen.
Airmen from a military installation located in the Northeastern United States were recruited to complete the 10 web-based modules in X-CoRe (9/15, 60% male; 7/15, 54% aged 30-35 years). Participants were given pretests and posttests to measure short-term psychosocial outcomes associated with SH and SA. Descriptive statistics and paired 2-tailed t tests were conducted to assess differences from preintervention to postintervention time points.
After completing X-CoRe, participants had a significantly greater understanding of active consent (P=.04), confidence in their healthy relationship skills (P=.045), and confidence to intervene as bystanders (P=.01). Although not statistically significant (P>.05), mean scores in attitudes about SH, couple violence, and cyberbullying; perceptions of sexual misconduct as part of military life; and relationship skills self-efficacy with a romantic partner and friend also improved.
The findings from this study demonstrate X-CoRe's effectiveness in improving critical determinants of SH and SA, making it a promising intervention for SH and SA prevention. More rigorous research is needed to determine X-CoRe's impact on SH and SA victimization and the long-term impact on associated psychosocial determinants.
性骚扰（SH）和性侵犯（SA）是美国军人中严重的公共卫生问题。很少有专门针对军队的 SH 和 SA 预防干预措施。《尊重准则》（X-CoRe）是一种创新的基于网络的、多层次的 SA 和 SH 干预措施，专为现役空军设计。该计划的目标是提高飞行员的知识和技能，以建立和维持尊重的关系，最终减少 SH 和 SA，并增强飞行员的整体幸福感和任务准备状态。
本试点研究旨在评估 X-CoRe 网络组件对初级入伍和中级空军人员样本的短期心理社会影响（例如，知识、态度和自我效能感）。
从美国东北部一个军事基地招募空军人员完成 X-CoRe 的 10 个网络模块（9/15，60%为男性；7/15，54%年龄在 30-35 岁之间）。参与者接受了前测和后测，以衡量与 SH 和 SA 相关的短期心理社会结果。进行描述性统计和配对双侧 t 检验，以评估从干预前到干预后的时间点的差异。
完成 X-CoRe 后，参与者对积极同意的理解有了显著提高（P=.04），对健康关系技能的信心增强（P=.045），并对作为旁观者进行干预的信心增强（P=.01）。尽管没有统计学意义（P>.05），但对 SH、夫妻暴力和网络欺凌的态度、将性不端行为视为军队生活一部分的看法、以及与浪漫伴侣和朋友的关系技能自我效能感的平均得分也有所提高。
本研究结果表明，X-CoRe 能有效改善 SH 和 SA 的关键决定因素，是预防 SH 和 SA 的一种有前途的干预措施。需要进行更严格的研究，以确定 X-CoRe 对 SH 和 SA 受害的影响以及对相关心理社会决定因素的长期影响。
