Andrew J Rizzo

University of Florida | UF · Department of Health Education and Behaviour

Given high rates of relationship violence among adolescents, there is a need to understand variables that influence adolescents’ helping behaviors to reduce risk for dating and sexual violence (reactive) and promote prevention before violence happens or risk factors are evident (proactive). The current paper examined individual and school variables...

Adherence to rigid masculine gender role beliefs is often a significant predictor of violence perpetration; additionally, there is a consistent link among adolescent boys between experiencing victimization and perpetrating violence. This study examines the nuances in those associations specifically for sexual harassment victimization, perpetration,...

Adolescence is a critical period of development in which various socializing relationships can play an important role in shaping behavior. This study examined adolescents’ bystander helping in relation to their perceived norms supporting intervention in dating and sexual violence situations across four different norm-referent groups. Survey questio...

Between 50% and 70% of campus sexual assaults (SA) involve alcohol and campuses frequently promote bystander intervention strategies to prevent SA in student party contexts. This systematic review evaluates the measurement and outcomes of quantitative studies on how alcohol affects campus SA bystander outcomes. Using four search strategies and rigo...

Adolescents are at an increased risk for experiencing dating and relationship violence (DRV) and gender-based violence (GBV). School-based interventions remain an important and frequently used method for DRV/GBV prevention. A clear understanding and description of the different components of school-based interventions specific to DRV/GBV is needed...

Background Schools have a duty of care to prevent violence between students but a significant amount of dating and relationship violence and gender-based violence occurs in schools. These are important public health issues with important longitudinal consequences for young people. Objectives To understand functioning and effectiveness of school-ba...

Conventional systematic reviews offer few insights into for whom and how interventions work. 'Realist reviews' examine such questions via examining 'context-mechanism-outcome configurations' (CMOCs) but are insufficiently rigorous in how evidence is identified, assessed and synthesised. We developed 'realist systematic reviews', addressing similar...

School-based interventions for the prevention of dating and relationship violence (DRV) and gender-based violence (GBV) take advantage of universal opportunities for intervention. Information on differential effectiveness of interventions is important to assess if they ameliorate or worsen social gradients in specific outcomes. This is especially i...

Background. Schools are sites of dating and relationship violence (DRV) and of gender-based violence (GBV) victimization and perpetration. School-based interventions can reach a broad range of students, targeting both individual and group processes that may underpin DRV and GBV. Considering DRV and GBV jointly is important because of their shared e...

School‐based interventions for preventing dating and relationship violence (DRV) and gender‐based violence (GBV) are an important way of attempting to prevent and reduce the significant amount of DRV and GBV that occurs in schools. A theoretical understanding of how these interventions are likely to cause change is essential for developing and eval...

Dating and relationship violence (DRV) and gender-based violence (GBV) among children and young people incur a high cost to individuals and society. School-based interventions present an opportunity to prevent DRV and GBV early in individuals’ lives. However, with school resources under pressure, policymakers require guidance on the economics of im...

Background Schools have a duty of care to prevent violence between students and play an important role in establishing prosocial norms and behaviours. However, a significant amount of dating-related violence (DRV) and gender-based violence (GBV) occurs in schools. DRV and GBV are important public health issues which are receiving increasing interes...

LGBTQ+ (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary, queer) people are often left out of campus sexual and relationship violence (SRV) prevention efforts despite experiencing higher rates of SRV. To inform LGBTQ+-affirming prevention efforts, we use a practice-to-research approach to aggregate wisdom from 32 LGBTQ+ professionals working to...

While mixed methods research can enhance studies of intervention outcomes and projects where research itself transforms communities through participatory approaches, methodologists need explicit examples. As the field of interpersonal violence prevention increasingly embraces community-level prevention strategies, it may benefit from research metho...

While dating and sexual violence (DSV) prevention through bystander intervention receives much attention in college samples, adult community samples and rural communities receive comparatively little study. An understanding of bystander actionist opportunities, who are the bystanders that have the opportunity to act to prevent to violence, is lacki...

Alcohol is involved in most sexual assaults on U.S. college campuses. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) students are at higher risk of both sexual assault victimization and substance abuse than their cisgender, heterosexual peers. Through a larger participation action study alongside Campus Advocacy and Prevention Professional...

The researchers examined the extent to which high school youth were exposed to dating and sexual violence (DSV) prevention types (e.g., social marketing campaign) across various locations (e.g., in‐school) and how exposure to DSV prevention related to perceptions of social norms and collective efficacy. Participants included 877 high school youth w...

Sexual violence (SV) and intimate partner violence (IPV), which often co-occur with bullying, are serious public health issues underscoring the need for primary prevention. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a community-building SV and IPV prevention program, Green Dot Community, on adolescents’ perceptions of community social n...

Ending gender-based violence (GBV) on campus requires sustained efforts to transform the rape culture that is embedded in college and university systems. While partnership with student activists is crucial, structural change necessitates partnerships among college and university employees, particularly between staff who direct campus survivor advoc...

In the midst of unprecedented attention to gender-based violence (GBV) globally, prompted in part by the #MeToo movement, this book provides a new analysis of how higher education cultures can be transformed. It offers reflections from faculty, staff, and students about how change has happened and could happen on their campuses in ways that go beyo...

This study examined an integrated model that proposes that alcohol availability and alcohol norms will directly and indirectly via binge drinking predict physical, sexual, and emotional teen dating violence (TDV) victimization. These data come from 22,336 high school students (49.6%) from 69 schools who participated in the New Hampshire Youth Risk...

Objectives: Researchers and practitioners are becoming increasingly aware that domestic and sexual violence (DSV) can be addressed at the community level by involving bystanders (or actionists, a term used to specify third parties who help as opposed to those who stand by). Since most research on DSV actionists has been conducted in secondary and...

Objective: This study is an examination of college students’ bystander behaviors in relation to several exosystem factors related to their institution, including trust in their college’s support systems, perceived procedural justice by campus police, and perceived procedural justice by campus administrators. Participants: Online surveys were comple...

Objective: Alcohol use is implicated in 50 to 70% of campus sexual assaults (CSA). Despite research, practice, and policy guidance that campus prevention efforts should address alcohol's role in CSA, there is limited guidance for prevention educators and administrators on how to actually do so. Participants: Campus-based sexual assault prevention...

There is growing attention to how social processes in communities may contribute to domestic and sexual violence (DSV) and be a target for prevention efforts. Three main variables are collective efficacy and descriptive and injunctive norms. To date, few measures exist that assess these variables in the specific context of violence prevention. The...

Our goal in this paper is to explore a range of answers to a seemingly simple question: "What is rural?" We explore this topic with an overview of commonly used definitions, commentary on their gaps, and thoughts about alternative ways to classify "rural communities."

BACKGROUND Relationship abuse (RA) and sexual assault (SA) are major problems among high school students, and school personnel are an important part of preventing RA and SA among youth. Therefore, we examined the rates and correlates of bystander intentions among school personnel in situations of RA and SA. METHODS School personnel (N = 1150) from...

While a large and growing evidence base exists for empirically supported treatment models for youth who have experienced trauma, we know far less about how to prevent violence exposure or re-exposure. Internationally, one innovation in promoting healthy development and reducing violence involved working with boys to help develop healthy expressions...

There is enthusiasm for programs that promote bystander intervention to prevent dating and sexual violence (DSV). However, more information about what facilitates or inhibits bystander behavior in DSV situations is needed. The present cross‐sectional survey study investigated whether youth perceptions of adults’ behavior and community norms were as...

Alcohol use plays a role in 50 to 70% of campus sexual assaults, which has generated heightened consideration of the intersections of sexual assault and alcohol use on campus. Existing research and guidance from organizations including ACHA, CDC, and CALCASA stress the importance of consistency between alcohol use/abuse prevention efforts and sexua...

The prevalence of sexual violence crimes on U.S. college campuses is prompting institutions of higher education to increasingly invest in centers to support survivors and programs to prevent the violence before it happens. Understanding bystanders to sexual violence and what may motivate them to step in and help is a promising prevention strategy....

Increased attention to sexual and relationship violence and stalking on campus has led to exponential growth in the number of vendors offering solutions to these pervasive public health problems. This white paper offers a series of questions to ask as they consider different prevention products and assess whether they will be effective in meeting t...

This toolkit was developed to assist campuses in making decisions about online modules through a prevention lens. Online methods can reach large or dispersed audiences very quickly, which can be an asset or a detriment to your comprehensive prevention strategy if not used intentionally. The toolkit integrates principles of effective prevention, cam...

This study examined relationships between intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity, reasons for using Internet pornography, frequency of using Internet pornography during the last year, and the degree to which participants believed they were both confident in their efficacy and were willing to intervene to help prevent a sexual assault from occurring. S...