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Abstract: 

Nationwide, approximately one in three women and one in four men have experienced sexual violence (SV), including sexual assault and harassment, relationship violence, and stalking, over the course of their lives. In college samples, approximately one in five women and one in 15 men reported SV since entering college. Mobile technology is an easily accessible way to disseminate SV prevention and response information to college students given that over 95% of young adults (ages 18-29) own a smartphone. The uSafeUS® mobile app provides primary, secondary, and tertiary sexual violence prevention features for college students and is currently being implemented on 24 college campuses. This article reports on the results of a study undertaken to quantitatively and qualitatively examine how college students used the uSafeUS® app during a 60-day period to understand how the app can support SV victims and their allies. The study was guided by three research questions: (1) What uSafeUS® features do college students use and in what situations do they use these features? (2) When do college students use the uSafeUS® app? And (3) How do college students see themselves using the uSafeUS® app (if they did not have the opportunity to use the app)?

Keywords: uSafeUS®; Mobile Technology and Violence Prevention

Affiliations:  1: UNH Prevention Innovations Research Center; 2: UNH Prevention Innovations Research Center; 3: UNH Prevention Innovations Research Center.