Adapting a Sexual Assault Prevention Intervention for Transgender Undergraduates: A One-Arm Pilot Trial

Adapting a Sexual Assault Prevention Intervention for Transgender Undergraduates

The purpose of this study is to adapt and pilot a sexual assault prevention intervention for transgender and nonbinary (trans) undergraduate students. Forty percent of trans individuals (i.e., individuals whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth, inclusive of nonbinary people) are sexually assaulted during their time in college. Despite the magnitude of this issue, there are no sexual assault prevention interventions that have lowered victimization of trans students. The Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) intervention is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is the only intervention proven to lower rape victimization by over 50% among cisgender female undergraduates. However, trans-specific vulnerabilities to violence are not addressed in EAAA, nor in the online adaptation of EAAA recently piloted by the study team called internet-delivered EAAA (IDEA3). This project will adapt and pilot IDEA3 for trans and nonbinary students to develop one of the first evidence-based sexual assault prevention interventions for trans and nonbinary young adults. We will adapt IDEA3 for trans students ages 18-25 and test it in an initial group which we will use to make revisions to the program. Then, we will collect participant survey and focus group data on feasibility and acceptability from 4 more groups of participants, revising the intervention between groups. Finally, we will collect preliminary data on whether the program increased participants' confidence in their ability to defend themselves.

Inclusion criteria:

• Participants must be adults ages 18 to 25, AND
• Have a gender identity that differs from their sex assigned at birth (e.g. trans or nonbinary) AND
• Be an undergraduate student AND
• Be available during the program times, AND
• Provide the contact information for another trans or nonbinary undergraduate who they would be willing to participate in the intervention with OR express willingness to being partnered with another trans or nonbinary undergraduate at their university AND
• Have access to and willingness to use the videoconferencing software Zoom for the program AND
• Consent to being recorded while participating.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participant is less than 18 years of age or older than 25 years of age, OR
• Does not identify as a trans or nonbinary individual, OR
• Is not an undergraduate student, OR
• Is not available during the program times, OR
• Does not provide the contact information for another trans or nonbinary undergraduate student who they would be willing to participate in the intervention with AND does not express a willingness to being partnered with another undergraduate OR
• Does not have access to and or is unwilling to use the videoconferencing software Zoom, OR
• Does not consent to being recorded while participating.