Healing Circles: An Intervention for Canadian Indigenous Mothers & Children Affected by IPV

Healing Circles: An Evaluation of an Intervention for Canadian Indigenous Mothers and Children Affected by Intimate Partner Violence

Evaluation of Mother's Empowerment Program and Kid's Club Program adapted specifically for Indigenous mothers and children affected by intimate partner violence in Canada

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Violence, Domestic
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Indigenous Mother's Empowerment Program & Indigenous Kid's Club Program

Detailed Description

Research Goals & Objectives. Our overall goal is to conduct a feasibility study of two successful evidence-based interventions (Mother's Empowerment Program and Kid's Club Program) designed specifically to meet the needs of Indigenous mothers and their children who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV).

Specifically, our objectives are:

1. To successfully adapt two existing effective evidence-based interventions for mothers and children who have experienced IPV for Indigenous mothers and children who have experienced IPV. Our adaptation process reflects our overall integrated knowledge translation (iKT) approach, undertaken in close partnership with our Community Advisory Council (CAC) and in consultation with Elders at both sites. As outlined by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), it follows a two-eyed seeing approach, incorporating Western and Indigenous knowledge, ways of knowing and being.
2. To pilot and evaluate our adapted interventions with mothers and children recruited from our community partners (Wahbung Abinoonjiiag, an Indigenous non-profit organization in Winnipeg and Discovery House, a crisis shelter and second stage housing facility for women in Calgary). We plan to evaluate our adapted programs using a two-eyed seeing approach that combines Western (quantitative) and Indigenous (qualitative) methodologies. As part of our iKT approach, our mixed methods evaluation will rely upon ongoing engagement and feedback from our CAC. Quantitative methods (e.g., standardized questionnaires) will be used to assess changes in the mental and physical health and well-being of mothers and their children over time. Qualitative methods (e.g., semi-structured interviews, narratives) will be used to evaluate the intervention experience and perceived changes in self perceptions (e.g., resilience).

Hypotheses. We will determine if there is an increase, both immediately post-intervention and sustained over 6-8 months, in mothers' and children's mental (e.g., resilience) and physical well-being (e.g., perceived health status), and if there is a reduction in mothers' and children's mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety and traumatic stress symptoms) and physical difficulties (e.g., somatic symptoms such as headaches). For children, analyses will take age, gender and sex into account.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 160
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Caroline Piotrowski, PhD MPH; Phone Number: 1-800-555-5555; Email: Caroline.Piotrowski@umanitoba.ca
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Nicole Letourneau, PhD RN; Phone Number: 1-800-555-5555

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Alberta
    • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2A 7R7
      • Recruiting
      • Discovery House
      • Contact: Executive Director; Phone Number: 403-670-0467; Email: shelter@discoveryhouse.ca

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 4 years to 11 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• mothers self-reported experience of past intimate partner violence, English-speaking, with at least one school-aged child

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Wait List Control; Participants receive intervention after 12 week delay	Behavioral: Indigenous Mother's Empowerment Program & Indigenous Kid's Club Program; Weekly groups administered to mothers and children simultaneously but separately for 10 weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Maternal Depression	Centers for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D)	Measured immediately post-intervention
Maternal Depression	Centers for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D)	Measured 6-8 months post-intervention
Child Depression	Child Depression Inventory (CDI)	Measured Immediately post-intervention
Child Depression	Child Depression Inventory (CDI)	Measured 6-8 months post-intervention
Maternal Anxiety	Beck Anxiety Scale	Measured Immediately post-intervention
Maternal Anxiety	Beck Anxiety Scale	Measured 6-8 months post-intervention
Child Anxiety	Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale - 2nd Edition Short Form (RCMAS-2)	Measured immediately post-intervention
Child Anxiety	Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale - 2nd Edition Short Form (RCMAS-2)	Measured 6-8 months post-intervention
Maternal trauma symptoms	PTSD Checklist (PCL-5)	Measured immediately post-intervention
Maternal trauma symptoms	PTSD Checklist (PCL-5)	Measured 6-8 months post-intervention
Child trauma symptoms	University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) Reaction Index	Measured immediately post-intervention
Child trauma symptoms	University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) Reaction Index	Measured 6-8 months post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Maternal resilience	Adult Resilience Measure - revised (ARM-R)	Measured immediately post-intervention
Maternal resilience	Adult Resilience Measure - revised (ARM-R)	Measured 6-8 months post-intervention
Child resilience	Child & Youth Resilience Measure - revised (CYRM-R)	Measured immediately post-intervention
Child resilience	Child & Youth Resilience Measure - revised (CYRM-R)	Measured 6-8 months post-intervention
Maternal social support	Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors	Measured immediately post-intervention
Maternal social support	Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors	Measured 6-8 months post-intervention
Maternal self esteem	Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale	Measured immediately post-intervention
Maternal self esteem	Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale	Measured 6-8 months post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Manitoba
• Collaborators: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Caroline Piotrowski, PhD MPH, University of Manitoba

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Graham-Bermann SA, Miller-Graff L. Community-based intervention for women exposed to intimate partner violence: A randomized control trial. J Fam Psychol. 2015 Aug;29(4):537-47. doi: 10.1037/fam0000091.
• Graham-Bermann SA, Miller-Graff LE, Howell KH, Grogan-Kaylor A. An Efficacy Trial of an Intervention Program for Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2015 Dec;46(6):928-39. doi: 10.1007/s10578-015-0532-4.
• Graham-Bermann SA, Lynch S, Banyard V, DeVoe ER, Halabu H. Community-based intervention for children exposed to intimate partner violence: an efficacy trial. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2007 Apr;75(2):199-209. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.75.2.199.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 23, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 30, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 15, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 16, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): January 21, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 15, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 13, 2024
• Last Verified: March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: domestic violence; exposure to violence
• Other Study ID Numbers: H2019:501

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No