Identifying in-session predictors of treatment outcome for intimate partner violence (IPV): an examination of fathers for change and treatment as usual

Abstract

A significant number of men arrested and mandated to intimate partner violence (IPV) programs are fathers who continue to be involved in the lives of non-offending parents and children. The current standard of care for these fathers is the “Batterer Intervention Program (BIP),” a group-based psychoeducational program with mixed empirical support. A recently developed cognitive-behavioral treatment, Fathers for Change (F4C), has demonstrated promising initial outcomes in a small randomized controlled trial comparing it to an individualized version of BIP (BIP-I). Significant reductions in IPV were reported in both treatments. Participants were 60 treatment-seeking fathers with a recent history of IPV and referred by Child Protective Services. They were randomly assigned to receive F4C (n = 30) or BIP-I (n = 30). Those who completed baseline questionnaires and attended at least one individual session (F4C: n = 26; BIP-I: n = 24) were included in the current study. Outcome measures were father self-report of IPV (Abusive Behavior Inventory: ABI), emotion regulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale: DERS), and reflective functioning (Reflective Functioning Questionnaire: RFQ). The CHANGE coding system and the Working Alliance Inventory-Observer form were used to code video recordings of individual-focused sessions from F4C and BIP-I sessions in the same time period. SEM-based moderation models showed that rigidity predicted less improvement (latent change scores) on the RFQ, and avoidance predicted more improvement. Significant interactions of avoidance and self-efficacy with treatment condition suggest that in F4C, high levels of these variables predicted less change in IPV. There were no significant predictors of change in DERS. Together, these findings highlight potential intervention targets that can guide further development and refinement of IPV treatments.