Treatment for Men Who Are Abusive to Their Partners

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Status and phase

Completed

Phase 1

Conditions

Domestic Violence

Treatments

Behavioral: Individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

NIH

Identifiers

NCT00070863

DSIR AT-AS

R21MH064562 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study will develop an individual behavior therapy for men who are violent toward their partners and will compare the therapy to standard group treatment.

Full description

To date, treatment interventions for domestic abuse perpetrators have been conducted almost exclusively in groups. However, the efficacy of such treatments relative to no treatment has not been thoroughly evaluated. Evidence suggests that individual treatments may be more effective than group treatments. This study will combine motivational enhancement therapy with cognitive and behavior change techniques to treat men who abuse their partners.

This study will be conducted in two phases. In Phase 1, an individual cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT) manual will be constructed. During Phase 2, participants will be randomly assigned to receive either 16 sessions of ICBT or 16 sessions of standard group therapy. Data on abusive behavior outcomes and secondary treatment targets will be collected from participants and their partners every 3 months for 1 year after the study.

Sex

Male

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Involved in male-to-female physical aggression in the past 12 months or has a history of severe male-to-female aggression in a relationship
Current involvement in a primary intimate relationship (cohabiting, dating, or married) for at least 6 months, with partner contact at least once per week
Willingness to provide written consent for partner contact
Partner provides verbal assent for the use of information during an initial phone interview and agrees to be re-contacted for scheduled follow-up interviews

Exclusion criteria

Psychotic symptoms or severe mood disorder
Mental retardation, autism, dementia, delirium, catatonia, or other severe cognitive disorders
Severe head trauma in the past two years
Seizure disorder
Current diagnosis of alcohol dependence or drug dependence. Participants must be in remission for at least 6 months if a past diagnosis is present.