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 control trial (RCT) investigating the efficacy of the Strength at Home (SAH) intervention in reducing intimate partner violence (IPV). The overarching aim of this study is to test the efficacy of SAH with court-involved-partner-violent men through an RCT comparing those who receive SAH with those who receive other standard IPV interventions offered in the state of Washington (treatment as usual- TAU).

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 greater reductions in IPV frequencies will be evidenced in SAH than 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 greater reductions in these symptoms will be evidenced in SAH than 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 will be higher in SAH than TAU.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Intimate Partner Violence
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Strength at Home (SAH); Behavioral: Treatment as usual for IPV

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 800
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Casey Taft, PhD; Phone Number: 857-214-0986; Email: taft@bu.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Megan Kopitsky, BS; Email: megan.kopitsky@va.gov

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02118
      • Recruiting
      • BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Psychiatry
      • Contact: Casey Taft, PhD; Phone Number: 857-214-0986; Email: taft@bu.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

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

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Strength at Home (SAH); Participants randomized into this arm with receive a trauma-informed intimate partner violence (IPV) intervention program.	Behavioral: Strength at Home (SAH); SAH is a group intervention that incorporates elements from interventions for violence and trauma. It is administered during 12 two-hour weekly sessions. The program uses a social information processing model based on the premise that trauma negatively impacts one's ability to interpret and respond to social situations effectively. It underscores the importance of cognitive behavioral strategies to monitor one's thoughts and responses to interpersonal situations.
Active Comparator: Treatment as Usual (TAU); Participants randomized into this arm with receive a standard IPV intervention program in the state of Washington.	Behavioral: Treatment as usual for IPV; Treatment as usual for IPV includes court-mandated interventions delivered over the 26 two-hour weekly sessions in Washington state.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
IPV assessment	The revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2), a 20-item instrument, will be used to assess IPV. The Physical Assault (12 items) and Psychological Aggression (8 items) subscales will be administered. Each of the 20 items is scored by the frequency of occurrence of the item with 8 choices 1-7 and 0.	Baseline, 3 months, 6 months. 9 months, 12 months
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms	The 20-item PTSD Checklist for DSM 5 (PCL-5) will be used to assess PTSD symptoms. It is a self-report measure. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale [0 to 4] and summed. Scores range from 0 to 80 with higher scores associated with more PTSD symptoms. A total score of 33 or higher may indicate severe PTSD.	Baseline, 3 months, 6 months. 9 months, 12 months
Alcohol use	The 10-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) will be used to assess problem drinking behavior over the past six months, with higher scores reflecting greater alcohol misuse.	Baseline, 3 months, 6 months. 9 months, 12 months
Alexithymia assessment	The 20-itemToronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) will be used to assess alexithymia. The TAS-20 uses cutoff scoring, with scores of 52-60 indicating possible alexithymia, and scores above 60 indicating alexithymia.	Baseline, 3 months, 6 months. 9 months, 12 months
Psychological IPV assessment	The 7-item Restrictive Engulfment subscale of the Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse (MMEA) will be used as an additional measure of psychological IPV. Each item has 7 potential responses from 0=never to 6= more than 20 times. Scores can range from 0 to 42, with higher scores being associated with more psychological IPV.	Baseline, 3 months, 6 months. 9 months, 12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Treatment Satisfaction	Participants' satisfaction will be assessed with a 4-item measure used in a study conducted by the Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program.	3 months, 6 months. 9 months, 12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Boston University
• Collaborators: Office of Crime Victims Advocacy - Washington State Department of Commerce
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Casey Taft, PhD, BU School of Medicine and National Center for PTSD

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 18, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 25, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 25, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): July 29, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 29, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 28, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Alcohol use; Trauma-informed; Treatment as Usual (TAU); Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); Strength at Home (SAH); Washington state
• Other Study ID Numbers: H-44938

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