Examining Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Treatment Outcomes in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Offenders: A Randomized Controlled Study
Abstract
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive social problem with 30% of women suffering abuse at least once in their lifetime. Treatment for individuals that have committed an IPV offense targets maladaptive behavioral and cognitive patterns to prevent future violence. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers a promising treatment framework for IPV offender populations as it integrates many aspects of the leading interventions (i.e., RNR and CBT). The current study was the first to use a RCT to evaluate violent and non-violent recidivism outcomes for DBT and anger management (TAU) therapies in a sample of individuals that had committed an IPV offense. Additionally, it was one of the first to specify violations of order of protections (OOP) as a non-violent outcome variable. Participants (N = 43) were randomly assigned to either DBT (24 bi-weekly sessions of group and individual therapy) or TAU (18 weeks of individual sessions) groups. There were not significant differences between groups in age, education, racial identity, or diagnoses of substance abuse disorder, ASPD, or BPD. There was no significant difference in the rate of treatment completion between the TAU (n = 20) (76.9%) and DBT (n = 11) (64.7%) treatment arms despite the increased rigor of DBT. Although individuals in the TAU group committed a higher percentage of total offenses (n = 6) (24%) compared to those in DBT (n = 3) (17.6%), it was not to significance (X2 (1, N = 42) = .243, p = .716, φ = .622). The study was underpowered due to a small sample size and overall low rates of both nonviolent (n = 6) and violent (n = 5) reoffending over the course of the study. The moderate effect size (φ = .622) indicates that increasing the sample would increase the likelihood that DBT participants would re-offend significantly less compared to their counterparts. Despite limitations, this study is a successful demonstration of DBT as an alternative intervention framework for IPV offenders. Though DBT may ultimately be comparable to current treatment options, future research should continue to explore the utility of DBT, even in modified forms, for this population.
Subject Area
Psychology|Mental health|Criminology
Recommended Citation
Conley, Erin May, "Examining Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Treatment Outcomes in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Offenders: A Randomized Controlled Study" (2024). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30820590.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30820590
