An evaluation of interventions to decrease intimate partner violence to pregnant women.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Sociology
• Women's Health

Background:

• Preventing abuse against women is a national priority.
• Research has historically focused on identifying abuse rather than evaluating intervention effectiveness.
• Effective interventions for pregnant women experiencing physical abuse are crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the differential effectiveness of three intervention levels: Brief, Counseling, and Outreach.
• To assess the impact of these interventions on physical abuse severity and community resource utilization.
• To determine the long-term effectiveness of interventions for abused pregnant women.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal study involving 329 pregnant, physically abused Hispanic women.
• Interventions included Brief, Counseling, and Outreach programs.
• Repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze data collected at 2-, 6-, 12-, and 18-month follow-ups.

Main Results:

• All intervention groups showed a significant decrease in abuse severity over time (p < 0.001).
• The Outreach group had significantly lower violence scores at 2-months postdelivery compared to the Counseling-only group (p < 0.05).
• No statistically significant differences in abuse severity were found among groups at 6, 12, and 18-month follow-ups.

Conclusions:

• Lay outreach interventions show potential for abused pregnant women and warrant further investigation.
• Abuse screening alone may be the most effective intervention strategy for preventing abuse in this population.
• Continued research is needed to optimize interventions for pregnant women experiencing physical abuse.