Prevalence of Bystander Intervention Opportunities and Behaviors Among U.S. Army Soldiers

• Published in: Health education & behavior Vol. 45; no. 5; pp. 741 - 747
• Main Authors: Elliman, Toby D., Shannahoff, Molly E., Metzler, Jonathan N., Toblin, Robin L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA Sage Publications, Inc 01-10-2018; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adolescent; Alcohol; Alcohol Abuse; Alcoholic Intoxication - psychology; Alcohols; Armed forces; Army; Behavior; Bystander Behavior; Bystanders; Confidence intervals; Demographics; Female; Health Behavior; Helping Behavior; Humans; Incidence; Intervention; Investments; Male; Military; Military Personnel; Military Personnel - psychology; Military psychology; Military Training; Prevalence; Rape; Ratings & rankings; Regression analysis; Risk; Risk behavior; Risk taking; Sex crimes; Sex Offenses - prevention & control; Sex Offenses - statistics & numerical data; Sexual abuse; Sexual assault; Sexual Harassment; Soldiers; Statistical analysis; Suicide; Suicide - prevention & control; Suicide - statistics & numerical data; Surveys and Questionnaires; Training; United States; Young Adult; United States; United States > US; alcohol misuse; military; sexual assault; bystander intervention; sexual harassment; suicide
• ISSN: 1090-1981; 1552-6127
• DOI: 10.1177/1090198117752788

The bystander intervention model is one approach utilized to reduce risky behaviors within the U.S. Army; however, it is unclear how frequently soldiers experience opportunities to intervene and whether they already intervene in such situations. The present analysis aims to ascertain frequencies for opportunities to intervene and the rates at which soldiers intervene when presented with such opportunities. Soldiers (N = 286) were asked whether they had witnessed particular risky behavior scenarios of interest to the Army (i.e., suicide-related behaviors, alcohol misuse, or sexual harassment/assault) during the previous 2 months and whether they had intervened in those scenarios. Prevalence rates within this sample were calculated to determine the frequency of such situations and subsequent interventions. Logistic regression was used to ascertain any differences in witnessing scenarios by demographic groups. Nearly half (46.8%) of the soldiers reported witnessing at least one scenario involving risky behaviors. Most soldiers who witnessed an event relating to suicide or alcohol misuse also reported consistently intervening (87.9% and 74.4%, respectively), whereas just half consistently intervened in response to scenarios relating to sexual harassment/assault (49.2%). Lower ranking soldiers were twice as likely as higher ranks to witness scenarios involving alcohol misuse (odds ratio = 2.18, 95% confidence interval [1.11, 4.26]) and sexual harassment/assault (odds ratio = 2.21, 95% confidence interval [1.05, 4.62]). These data indicate that soldiers regularly encounter opportunities to intervene in risky behaviors, and while a majority intervened in such scenarios, more training is warranted, particularly around sexual assault and harassment. This supports the notion that bystander intervention training is a worthwhile investment for the Army.