Dedicating to ending sexual violence on campus
PROGRAMS & TOOLS
PREVENTION
PROGRAMMING MATRIX
Skills for Healthy Adult Relationships (SHARe)
SHARe is a weekly eight-session group program for college students that helps prevent conflict and interpersonal violence through enhanced positive communication, relationship attitudes, and self-regulation, and reduced negative communications.
| Program Name | Level of Evidence | Format | Target Audience | Special Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Skills for Healthy Adult Relationships (SHARe)
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Supported By Evidence |
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Learning Objectives
By the end of the trainings, students will:
- Enhance emotion regulation
- Enhance relationship skills
- Cope more effectively with personal vulnerabilities, stress, and interpersonal challenges
Methods
- Eight weekly sessions lasting 1.5 hours each, conducted in groups of 5-10 individuals
- Sessions included a didactic presentation, group discussion and/or role plays, informational handouts, and practice assignments
Dosage
- Eight weekly sessions lasting 1.5 hours each, conducted in groups of 5-10 individuals
- Participating individuals self-reported measures of positive negative communication, interpersonal confidence, and perpetration of violence at baseline, post-group, and a 3-month follow-up
Population Served
Emerging adults: college students
Theoretical Basis For Approach
SHARe is based on an integrative cognitive-behavioral model of communication and emotion regulation in close interpersonal relationships (e.g., Murphy & Eckhardt, 2005; Murphy & Scott, 1995; Taft et al., 2016). The hypothesis for this program was that partner violence prevention would be accomplished by enhancing emotion regulation and relationship skills needed to cope effectively with personal vulnerabilities, stress, and relationship challenges.
Program Effectiveness
Findings from two pilot groups found high program acceptability and satisfaction ratings; reduced negative communications; and improved confidence in using conflict management strategies with peers and romantic partners, including new relationships. Participants reported no incidents of interpersonal violence perpetration or victimization at follow-up (Khalifian et al., 2019). A larger, subsequent study reported significantly higher confidence in participants' ability to manage conflicts post-intervention and significantly lower aggression at follow-up compared to controls. At 3-month follow-up, self-reported perpetration of psychological abuse was 1.5 times higher for controls versus participants in the SHARe program (Webermann et al., 2020).
PARTICIPATING COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
HOW TO ACCESS THIS PROGRAM
Please contact one of authors, Christian Murphy, at chmurphy@umbc.edu.
Sources
Khalifian, C.K., Murphy, C.M., Barry, R.A., and Herman, B. (2019). Skills for healthy adult relationships at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County: program development and preliminary data. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(12) 2551-2572.
Murphy, C. M., & Eckhardt, C. I. (2005). Treating the abusive partner: An individualized, cognitive-behavioral approach. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Murphy, C. M., & Scott, E. (1995). Cognitive behavior therapy for domestically assaultive individuals: A treatment manual. Unpublished manuscript, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Taft, C. T., Murphy, C. M., & Creech, S. K. (2016). Trauma-informed treatment and prevention of intimate partner violence. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Webermann, A.R., Murphy, C.M., Singh, R., and Schacht R.L. (2020). Preventing relationship abuse among college students: a controlled trial of the skills for health adult relationships (SHARe) program. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1-26.