Stakeholder Perceptions of Factors Predicting Successful Implementation of a Sexual Assault Prevention Program in Middle Schools

Sexual assault and harassment are significant problems that begin early in the lifespan, with nearly 40% of middle school students reporting some form of sexual victimization. In addition to sexual violence, other forms of aggression, including bullying, cyberbullying, homophobic teasing, and verbal harassment are all commonplace among middle school students. Concerningly, engaging in these forms of aggression in early adolescence have been identified as robust developmental precursors and predictors for perpetrating more serious forms violence, such as sexual aggression, among teenagers and adults. Despite the high rates of sexual violence and harassment occurring among middle school students, sexual violence prevention interventions and programs are targeted almost exclusively toward high school and college students. Given the importance of implementing sexual violence prevention early in the lifespan, it is critical to understand contextual factors that may influence the implementation of sexual assault prevention approaches in middle school settings. One framework that research has demonstrated to be helpful, valid, and reliable in predicting implementation outcomes is the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), which provides a menu of constructs arranged across 5 domains that assists stakeholders in assessing and identifying site-specific determinants of successful intervention implementation.