Evaluating Interventions for Intimate Partner Violence Use in Washington State

Evaluating Interventions for Intimate Partner Violence Use in Washington State

Intimate partner violence (IPV), specifically physical and psychological aggression toward an intimate partner, represents a public health crisis that affects millions of Americans each year. There currently exists very little evidence from randomized controlled trials for the effectiveness of abuser intervention programs designed to prevent and end perpetration of IPV in the general population. This is troubling considering that approximately half a million men and women are court-mandated to these programs each year.

The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial evaluating the effectiveness of the Strength at Home (SAH) intervention in reducing intimate partner violence (IPV). The overarching aim of this study is to determine whether outcomes achieved through SAH are non-inferior to those achieved through standard IPV interventions offered in the state of Washington (treatment as usual; TAU) among court-involved men who have used IPV.

The specific aims are:

1.1: Compare the frequency of physical and psychological IPV, the primary outcomes of interest, across conditions as reported by the male participants and their intimate partners across Time 1 (baseline) and four 3-month follow ups (Times 2-5). It is expected that reductions in physical and psychological IPV perpetration observed in SAH will be non-inferior to those observed in TAU over the course of the year.

1.2: Compare symptoms of PTSD, alexithymia, and alcohol use problems across conditions and assessment time points as reported by the male participants. It is expected that reductions in PTSD symptoms, alexithymia, and alcohol use problems observed in SAH will be non-inferior to those observed in TAU over the course of the year.

1.3: Compare treatment satisfaction across conditions as reported by the male participants across the four 3-month follow ups (Times 2-5). It is expected that treatment satisfaction in SAH will be comparable to or greater than treatment satisfaction in TAU.

Inclusion Criteria:

Men:

1. Identify as a man
2. Provide consent for the research team to contact his intimate partner(s) for data collection purposes;
3. Court-referred for IPV intervention in Washington state

Women:

1. Identify as a woman
2. Were or currently are an intimate partner involved in an incident of IPV with a court-referred participant

Exclusion Criteria:

1. demonstrates active psychosis that may interfere with their ability to participate in group
2. expresses prominent suicidal or homicidal ideation that requires hospitalization
3. does not possess proficiency in spoken English
4. periods of incarceration after study enrollment