The effect of intimate partner violence on treatment response in an intensive outpatient program for suicide-bereaved

Allyson M Blackburn1, Bingyu Xu2, Lauren Gibson2,3,4

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA.

Suicide-bereaved military widows can struggle with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and prolonged grief. Intimate partner violence survivors (IPV) are particularly at risk. We examined whether IPV impacts outcomes in a two-week intensive outpatient program for N = 50 suicide-bereaved military widows. Mixed-model regressions were employed to examine the effects of IPV, time, and their interaction on symptoms. Thirty-four percent experienced IPV perpetrated by their deceased veteran. Symptoms improved at post-treatment (ps < .001), one-month (ps < .01), and three-month follow-up (ps< .001). There was no significant effect of IPV or significant interaction (ps > .05), indicating that IPV survivors also benefitted from treatment.

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