This research study investigates the feasibility of a randomized control trial of a group-based treatment program for reducing stress, trauma, substance use, and use of violence among individuals who were court-mandated to attend a program after committing an act(s) of domestic violence. The study is in a 2-arm design with an intervention group and a control group.
Must be male-identifying or prefer to be in a male-identifying group;
Must be a resident of Washington state;
Must be court-referred to a treatment program for using violence with an intimate partner;
Have sufficient English fluency and literacy skills to understand the consent process, procedures and questionnaires and have the ability to provide written informed consent;
Insufficiently stable housing or internet connection to be able to join at least 17 group sessions;
Current participation in another experimental research study;
Expected medical hospitalization in the next six months from study enrollment period;
Current or expected physical incarceration (excluding house arrest or other forms of electronic monitoring) in the next six months from study enrollment period;
Parallel
Program For Alleviating Relationship Trauma and Stress through New Behaviors
BehavioralThe experiential protocol includes 15 minutes of themed curriculum and 45 minutes of experiential exercises, e.g., going inside meditation, centering practice, witnessing their own parts, psychodrama, speaking for parts exercises, finding parts in the body, etc. In addition, participants will have 30 minutes to speak in the group about their experience and review the manual focused on new coping strategies and behaviors. We will ask participants to keep a journal to write down observations and parts they notice during the week and ask them to bring the journal and manual we send to them to the group so they can record information they remember after exercises. All participants also will be scheduled to have approximately six to nine standard clinical one-hour sessions with an individual IFS trained counselor (at least Level 1 IFS trained) during their time in the program, with an average of one-two sessions per month (6-9 total individual sessions).
DVIT Treatment As Usual (TAU)
BehavioralTreatment As Usual (TAU) for people who use violence in interpersonal and domestic relationships. In WA state currently, these treatments are usually a mix of elements from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Duluth Model, and/or Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT). Participants in this group will not be exposed to IFS during TAU, to preserve the integrity of the study design. The number of individual counseling sessions during TAU will be tracked, but it can vary based on need in the treatment as usual modalities.
H1.1 - Intervention Feasibility
70% of participants attend 67% of group sessions Study feasibility: 70% of participants complete of post study assessments For study-protocol feasibility we do not expect differences in the arms but expect each arm to obtain overall 67% or more of participants completing week-20 study assessments (H1.1)
H2.1. - Acceptability
Mean score of 20 on the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) general acceptability item A secondary aim is overall acceptability of the intervention as measured by the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) (Larsen et al., 1979) where for both arms, we expect a mean score of at least 20 out of a total of 32 (H2.1)
H2.2 -- Satisfaction
Intervention satisfaction, as measured by a satisfaction question (would you recommend a friend) will obtain at least a mean of 7 out of 10 (H2.2) in week 20 for both arms Mean \>7.0 of 10 on willingness to refer a friend on Satisfaction Questionnaire
H2.3 -- Conflict Tactics
Investigate the potential effects of the intervention on the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) (Straus et al., 1996; Chapman \& Gillespie, 2019) and Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse- Restrictive Engulfment (MMEA-RE Subscale) (Murphy \& Hoover, 1999). We hypothesize a risk reduction in physical and psychological violence from self-reports in both arms IFS/DVIT-TAU arm (H2.3). In our pilot (N=12), baseline mean of the psychological aggression subscale was 0.51 (SD=0.17), indicating that some participants had very high aggression scores while others did not. In Week 12, the mean was 0.13 (SD=0.12), suggesting that everyone clustered near zero, with a reduction in variability and suggesting a potential for stabilization in risk. Risk reduction in this case is both improvement and stabilization (decreased or stable scores).
H2.4 -- Aggression Experience
in the pilot PARTS IPV study, we observed declines in the Aggression Experience Sampler (AES) from baseline to week 12. Average baseline scores were 13.97 (SE=0.63) with weekly rates of decline of -0.06 (p-value=0.09), indicating decreases ranging from 0.01 to 0.13 points per week. Based on these pilot findings we hypothesize that the 20-week RCT intervention will produce a weekly decline of -0.04 in AES scores (H2.4)
Exploratory Aim - mechanisms of emotion regulation, decentering, self-critical rumination, and self-compassion
Exploratory outcomes include effects on mechanisms of emotion regulation, decentering, self-critical rumination, and self-compassion. We hypothesize a greater capacity for decentering (Experiences Questionnaire - Decentering subscale (EQ)), reductions in self-critical rumination, reactivity in interpersonal relationships (OAS2, IRI-SF), as well as an increase in emotion identification and regulation (PAQ-S, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)), transcendent experiences (NADA-Bliss subscale), and self-compassion (using Self-Compassion Scale Short Form (SCS-SF)) self report, in IFS PARTS compared to DVIT-TAU at week 12 and 20. Other exploratory aims of the study are to investigate the effects of the intervention on general mental health including posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety (Achtyes et al., 2015; Guinart et al., 2021), and substance use (Craving Scale, AUDIT-C).
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Cambridge Health Alliance
Lead sponsor
Waterland Counseling Services
Collaborator
Washington State Department of Commerce Office of Crime Victims Advocacy
Collaborator
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