Bystanders can play a crucial role in preventing and mitigating risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption and sexual aggression in social situations. While previous studies have primarily focused on how bystander intervention behaviors are influenced by alcohol intoxication during incidents of sexual aggression, there is a lack of research examining bystander intervention in other types of alcohol-related harm, cannabis use, or the simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis. To address this research gap, the current study aims to explore the effects of alcohol use, cannabis use, and simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use on bystander intentions.
The study employed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine 81 college women aged 18 to 24 from an urban university in the southeastern United States. Participants met eligibility criteria by reporting heavy episodic drinking, cannabis use, and simultaneous use at least three times in the past month. Surveys were delivered randomly on two evenings and assessed participants’ recent alcohol and cannabis use within the past two hours and their bystander intervention intentions in hypothetical scenarios. These scenarios focused on two types of risks: alcohol-related harm (e.g., excessive drinking) and sexual aggression (e.g., using alcohol to facilitate sexual advances). Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to analyze the effects of alcohol, cannabis, and simultaneous use on bystander intervention intentions.
The findings revealed that alcohol use alone and simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis significantly reduced bystander intervention intentions in both alcohol-related harm and sexual aggression scenarios. In alcohol-related harm scenarios, alcohol use alone reduced intervention intentions compared to no substance use (p = 0.003), while simultaneous use resulted in an even more pronounced reduction (p < 0.001). In sexual aggression scenarios, alcohol use alone (p = 0.014) and simultaneous use (p = 0.020) also significantly lowered intervention intentions. However, cannabis use alone did not show a statistically significant effect in either scenario (alcohol-related harm: p = 0.082; sexual aggression: p = 0.530). On average, participants reported higher intentions to intervene in sexual aggression scenarios (M = 3.17, SD = 0.72) than in alcohol-related harm scenarios (M = 2.49, SD = 0.97, p < 0.001). These findings highlight the need for targeted bystander intervention strategies to address the specific challenges posed by alcohol and simultaneous substance use.
Takeaway: Alcohol and simultaneous substance use significantly reduce bystander intervention intentions, underscoring the need for targeted strategies to address these challenges in risk scenarios.