Communication Skills vs. Mindfulness for IPV

University of Houston

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Aggression; Domestic Violence; Family Conflict; Domestic Abuse

Treatments: Behavioral: Communication Skills Training; Behavioral: Placebo; Behavioral: Mindfulness

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03672942

STUDY00000975

Details and patient eligibility

About

This tests the immediate impact of two brief interventions on couples reporting intimate partner violence using the proximal change experimental design. Couples will be randomly assigned to a mindfulness conditions, a communication exercise or a placebo condition. Outcome measures include observed and experimentally assessed aggression.

Full description

This pilot study is designed to test the effects of two brief interventions on communication and emotional expression between intimate partners who have experienced recent domestic violence. In addition, it will provide some basic laboratory findings on differences in distress tolerance between perpetrators and victims of domestic abuse. Specifically, using the proximal change experimental design, couples will engaged in a 7.5 minute conflict discussion while being videotaped and having their autonomic responding monitored. Then they will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a communication skills training exercise, a mindfulness condition, or a placebo control. Next, ,couples will engaged in second 7.5 minute conflict discussion. It is hypothesized that those in both the communication skills training and mindfulness condition will display more positive and less aggressive behavior in their second conflict discussion as compared to their first. It is also expected that they will administer less aggression (as measured by delivery of a loud noise) to their partner after both of the active interventions. In addition, multiple measures of distress tolerance will be administered to both partners. It is expected that couples with a characterologically violent perpetrator, he or she will evidence decreased distress tolerance and the victimized partner will evidence increased distress tolerance

Enrollment: 50 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 80 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Adult co-habituating couples Reporting some violence in the past year (score > 0 on CTS2 physical abuse subscale)

Exclusion criteria

Homosexual couples Children under 18 non-English speakers

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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50 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group

Communication Skills

Experimental group

Description:

Male and female participants will listen to a description of John Gottman's Gentle Start-up communication skills training exercise and practice the technique in the lab for approximately 8 minutes.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Communication Skills Training

Mindfulness

Experimental group

Description:

Male and female participants will listen to a script about Acceptance/Willingness of unwanted emotions written by Amie Zarling and practice this technique in the lab for approximately 8 minutes.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness

Placebo

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Male and female participants will listen to music in lieu for 8 minutes.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Placebo