Group intervention for intimate partner violence among female spouses of men with alcohol dependence syndrome: An...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health problem. Alcohol dependence and IPV are interconnected. Group intervention may promote recovery from IPV.

To examine the outcomes of group intervention for female spouses of men with alcohol dependence syndrome (ADS) who experienced IPV.

An open-label, single-group quasiexperimental study was conducted with 44 women who experienced intimate partner violence. The study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital. The group interventions consisted of daily one-hour sessions over six days, addressing trauma related to IPV, psychoeducation, the need for treatment adherence, skills to prevent IPV, safety plans, self-care, resource mapping, and networking. A Composite Abuse Scale shorter version was used for screening for IPV. Psychological stress, wellbeing, social support, and help-seeking behavior scales were assessed before and after one month of the group intervention. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests was used to analyze the data.

The mean age of IPV survivors was 34 years (±7). All the participants experienced physical, psychological, and sexual forms of IPV. post-test revealed a significant reduction in violence frequency (z = -4.938, p < 0.001), perceived stress (z = -4.776, p < 0.001), improved social support (z = -2.079, p = 0.038), help-seeking behavior (z = -3.634, p < 0.001), and psychological wellbeing (z = -4.759, p < 0.001) after the group intervention.

Group intervention reduces the frequency of IPV and stress levels and enhances help-seeking behavior, psychological wellbeing, and social support among IPV survivors.