Effectiveness of a Safety App to Respond to Dating Violence for College Women and Their Friends

Intimate partner violence (IPV), including violence in dating relationships (dating violence,
DV) is a widespread and serious public health problem. Among U.S. female IPV survivors, 47.1%
report their first abusive relationship occurred at college age (age 18-24). Similarly, in
national surveys, adults respondents 18-24 years of age report the highest rate of stalking
victimization, most commonly by a former intimate partner. Safety planning is the most widely
used intervention to prevent and respond to IPV, yet the vast majority of abused women never
access safety planning services. Our challenge is to increase college women's access to
safety planning, with the opportunity to consider their unique safety priorities and level of
danger during and when ending an abusive relationship. In addition, while "bystander"
interventions that train peers to safely intervene have been shown to be effective in sexual
assault prevention on campus, and college women in abusive relationships most frequently
disclose IPV to a friend, no similar interventions have been tested with friends for IPV
response on campuses. Therefore, the objective of the study is to evaluate the:

1. effectiveness of an interactive, personalized smart phone and web based safety
application ("App") intervention in Maryland and Oregon with: 1) college women (age
18-24) who experience IPV and 2) friends (age 18-24) of women experiencing IPV. The
safety decision App allows the user to enter information on: a) relationship health; b)
safety priorities; and c) severity of violence/danger in relationship. The App then uses
the information to provide the user with a personalized safety planning information and
resources; and

2. dissemination of the App in an expanded four states (Arizona, Maryland, Missouri, and
Oregon) to determine the reach, adoption, implementation and maintenance of App use
among university/college students.