Treating intimate partner violence within intact couple relationships: outcomes of multi-couple versus individual couple therapy.
An experimental design was used to determine outcomes of a domestic violence-focused treatment program for couples that choose to stay together after mild-to-moderate violence has occurred. Forty-two couples were randomly assigned to either individual couple or multi-couple group treatment. Nine couples served as the comparison group. Male violence recidivism rates 6 months after treatment were significantly lower for the multi-couple group (25%) than for the comparison group (66%). In contrast, men in the individual couple condition were not significantly less likely to recidivate (43%) than those in the comparison group. In addition, marital satisfaction increased significantly, and both marital aggression and acceptance of wife battering decreased significantly among individuals who participated in multi-couple group therapy, but not among those who participated in individual couple therapy or the comparison group.
Human Development Department, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Northern Virginia Center, Falls Church 20043, USA. sstith@vt.edu
Sandra M
SM
Stith
Karen H
KH
Rosen
Eric E
EE
McCollum
Cynthia J
CJ
Thomsen
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004219:District of Columbia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008388:Marital Therapy / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014768:Virginia