Self-Compassion, Health, and Empowerment (SHE RCT)

July 28, 2026 updated by: Yang Li

Self-Compassion, Health, and Empowerment: A Randomized Controlled Trial for Chinese Immigrant Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) can have serious and lasting effects on women's mental health and well-being. Chinese immigrant women in the United States often face additional barriers to obtaining IPV and mental health support, including language, cultural, and social challenges. There is a need for culturally appropriate interventions that improve access to care and address the mental health needs of this underserved population.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the Self-Compassion, Health, and Empowerment (SHE) intervention, a culturally tailored mobile health (mHealth) program designed for Chinese immigrant women experiencing IPV. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the SHE intervention or an attention control program and will complete study assessments over a 12-month follow-up period.

The results of this study will help determine whether the SHE intervention improves mental health and well-being among Chinese immigrant women experiencing IPV and may provide evidence for an accessible, culturally appropriate intervention that can be implemented more broadly.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health problem that has profound effects on women's physical and mental health. Immigrant women are at increased risk for IPV and often face substantial barriers to accessing support and health services. Chinese immigrants are the largest Asian ethnic group in the United States, yet Chinese immigrant women experiencing IPV remain an underserved population. Cultural stigma, limited English proficiency, immigration-related concerns, social isolation, and limited availability of culturally and linguistically appropriate services contribute to disparities in access to IPV and mental health care.

Mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are common among women who have experienced IPV. However, few evidence-based interventions have been developed specifically for Chinese immigrant women, and existing services often do not adequately address the cultural and structural barriers that limit access to care.

The Self-Compassion, Health, and Empowerment (SHE) intervention was developed to address these unmet needs. SHE is a culturally tailored, mobile health (mHealth) intervention that combines safety planning and empowerment strategies with self-compassion and relaxation practices to improve psychological well-being. Delivering the intervention remotely through telephone and text messaging is intended to increase accessibility, reduce barriers related to transportation, geography, stigma, and privacy, and facilitate engagement among Chinese immigrant women.

This study is a two-arm randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate the efficacy of the SHE intervention compared with an attention control condition. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either the SHE intervention or a health education attention control program delivered with the same schedule and frequency of participant contact. The study will evaluate the effects of the intervention on mental health outcomes, including symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, as well as IPV experiences and other psychosocial outcomes, from baseline through 12 months of follow-up.

The findings from this study will provide evidence regarding the efficacy of a culturally tailored mHealth intervention to improve mental health and well-being among Chinese immigrant women experiencing IPV. If effective, the SHE intervention has the potential to increase access to culturally appropriate support and reduce disparities in mental health care for this underserved population.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

364

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18 or older;
  • Self-identify as a woman;
  • Self-identify as Chinese;
  • Reside in the U.S.;
  • Self-report experiences of any physical, emotional, or sexual violence from an intimate partner within the past year;
  • Self-report symptoms of depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Those who cannot speak or understand Mandarin or English;
  • Those with substance use, suicidality, or who have been in mental health care for severe mental illness.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: The SHE intervention group
The intervention will consist of 6 weekly sessions. Session 1 is a phone discussion about an IPV safety brochure covering IPV information, questions from the Danger Assessment, safety planning, options, and available resources. It also includes immigrant-specific content such as immigration-related abuse, legal options for immigrants, and resources for immigrant survivors. Sessions 2-6 will focus on providing mental health self-care resources, with a specific topic assigned each week (Deep Breathing, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Mindful Self- Compassion, Mindfulness, and Loving-Kindness). Each session includes a video introduction on 1 of our 5 topics, with accompanying audio instructions for exercises. The interventionist will guide participants to review the video at the beginning of each session and encourage them to practice the exercises presented in that session daily for 1 week.
Behavioral: The Self-Compassion, Health, and Empowerment (SHE) Intervention
The intervention will consist of 6 weekly sessions. Session 1 is a phone discussion about an IPV safety brochure covering IPV information, questions from the Danger Assessment, safety planning, options, and available resources. It also includes immigrant-specific content such as immigration-related abuse, legal options for immigrants, and resources for immigrant survivors. Sessions 2-6 will focus on providing mental health self-care resources, with a specific topic assigned each week (Deep Breathing, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Mindful Self- Compassion, Mindfulness, and Loving-Kindness). Each session includes a video introduction on 1 of our 5 topics, with accompanying audio instructions for exercises. The interventionist will guide participants to review the video at the beginning of each session and encourage them to practice the exercises presented in that session daily for 1 week.
Active Comparator: The attention control group
Participants in the attention control group will receive six weekly educational sessions on nutrition and health, matched in delivery mode, timing, and frequency of contacts with the intervention group.
Behavioral: Health and Nutrition Program
It consists of six weekly educational sessions focused on nutrition and health. Each week, participants will view a video on a specific nutrition-related topic and complete a quiz/homework (e.g., food label identification, healthy meal planning). Reminder and check-in messages will be sent every other day via text messages to reinforce the content and respond to any participant questions.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Depression symptoms
Time Frame: Baseline and 6-week, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups
The instrument used will be the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. The total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating more severe depressive symptoms.
Baseline and 6-week, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups
Anxiety symptoms
Time Frame: Baseline and 6-week, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups
The instrument used will be the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7. The total scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating more severe anxiety symptoms.
Baseline and 6-week, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups
Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Time Frame: Baseline and 6-week, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups
The instrument used will be the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5. The total scores range from 0 to 80, with higher scores indicating more severe PTSD symptoms.
Baseline and 6-week, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intimate partner violence
Time Frame: Baseline and 6-week, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups
The instrument used will be the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales. Item scores within each subscale were summed, with higher scores indicating more frequent experiences of the corresponding behaviors. The scale consists of five subscales: negotiation (6 items; score range = 0-150), psychological aggression (8 items; score range = 0-200), physical assault (12 items; score range = 0-300), sexual coercion (7 items; score range = 0-175), and injury (6 items; score range = 0-150).
Baseline and 6-week, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Yang Li

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 24, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 24, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 29, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 30, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 28, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00007939
  • 1R01NR022445-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Subscribe