“Once Upon a Party”: Preventing Sexual and Dating Violence on College Campuses Through Game-Based Learning

College students are at high risk of perpetrating or being victims of sexual assault and/or dating violence. Although there has been an increase in the development of prevention programs, they have not been effective in reducing rates of sexual assault and dating violence on college campuses. One approach to reducing violence is by changing attitudes and beliefs that affect the risk of violence perpetration, and changing behavioral intent. One innovative method in affecting these changes is through game-based learning. “Once Upon a Party” is a game designed to prevent sexual assault and dating violence on college campuses through the changing of harmful attitudes and beliefs, and improving behavioral intent. Results of this pilot intervention study indicate that “Once Upon a Party” reduces harmful dating norms and hostile sexism, increases knowledge about consent, and improves bystander readiness. Results also demonstrate there are differences in changes from pretest to posttest based on demographic characteristics such as gender, sexual orientation, racial identity, and gender identity. Through the changing of problematic attitudes and beliefs, and behavioral intent, the game “Once Upon a Party” has the potential to reduce rates of sexual assault and dating violence on college campuses.