A comparative assessment of the effectiveness of a peer versus a counselor in presenting a date rape prevention intervention program to college students

The study examined the perceived effectiveness of a peer (college senior) versus a professional counselor, as assessed through the Counselor Rating Form (CRF), in presenting the Date Rape Prevention (DRP) video in a sample of undergraduate college students. The three dimensions of Effectiveness that were assessed were Attractiveness, Expertness, and Trustworthiness. Further, an Overall Effectiveness rating combining the assessment of the three dimensions was determined. Four hypotheses postulated that the mean CRF Expertness, Attractiveness, Trustworthiness, and Overall Effectiveness scores for subjects grouped by pre-DRP video information that its presenter's status was a peer would be significantly higher than that for subjects told the presenter was a professional counselor. An experimental, randomized between-subject research design was employed. Data used in hypotheses testing were elicited from 186 undergraduate college students enrolled in six Introductory Psychology courses. Students were divided into two groups, 90 of whom were told the presenter in the DRP video was a peer and 96 of whom were told the presenter in the DRP video was a professional counselor. Data were obtained through the CRF and the Participant Information Inventory (PII). The CRF developed by A. Barak & M. B. LaCrosse in 1975, was used to assess the presenter's effectiveness. The PII was developed by the author for this study to gather demographic information about its participants, participants' personal involvement with date rape and rating of the DRP video. The t-test was used in testing each hypothesis. The standard for significance was p $\le$.05. The findings in this study indicate that subjects who were told the presenter in the DRP video was a peer did not perceive the presenter's "expertness," "attractiveness," "trustworthiness," or "overall effectiveness" differently than did subjects who were told the presenter's status was a professional counselor. Therefore, each of the four study hypotheses was not confirmed. These findings seem to warrant the conclusion that campus intervention programs that are designed to educate undergraduate college students about date rape and teach them behaviors that could lead to the prevention of the problem can be presented as effectively by a peer as they can by a professional counselor.