(PS10-75) Preliminary Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Court-Mandated IPV Treatment Across Washington State.

Abstract Text: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health crisis in the United States, with nearly half of both men and women experiencing psychological IPV and nearly a quarter of women experiencing severe physical IPV. Although millions of Americans are affected by IPV in their lifetime, evidence-based interventions to prevent and end perpetration of IPV in the general population are lacking. Strength at Home (SAH) is a trauma-informed, group-based intervention designed to address social information processing deficits and prior trauma—two key risk factors for IPV. Previous research, including a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in military veterans and multiple follow-up studies, suggest that SAH effectively reduces various forms of IPV and reduces other secondary outcomes, such as alcohol use problems. The current presentation will present initial data from an RCT of the program in civilians to evaluate the effectiveness of SAH in comparison to standard IPV interventions (treatment as usual, or TAU) in reducing IPV among court-involved, partner-violent men. We are utilizing a single-site parallel group design, with randomization occurring at the individual level in a 1:1 allocation ratio to SAH or TAU. The current participant sample is primarily Caucasian and African American, aged 20-64, with an average income below the federal poverty threshold. IPV will be assessed via the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) across five assessment time points, and secondary outcomes include post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD), as measured by the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), alexithymia, as measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and alcohol use, as assessed by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Data analysis will include effect sizes and random-effects regression models, employing Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM5) to account for time-related changes and group differences. We hypothesize that SAH will evidence superior outcomes compared to TAU across outcomes, highlighting the importance of trauma-informed, evidence-based interventions when working with those who use IPV.