Athletic Coaches Might Help to Prevent Gender Violence

Relationship abuse and sexual violence are common among adolescents and young adults, with negative health and emotional sequelae. To test the effectiveness of a middle-school prevention program, researchers conducted a randomized, controlled trial in 43 middle schools. In the program, “Coaching Boys Into Men,” athletic coaches underwent a 1-hour training session on how to talk to boys on their teams about respectful behavior and responsibility in speaking out against violence towards girls. Coaches then led 15-minute weekly discussions for 12 weeks.

The primary outcome was whether participants responded to disrespectful or harmful behaviors by peers (i.e., bystander behavior) during the previous 3 months. Secondary outcomes included recogni…