Effectiveness of an Online Safety Tool for Canadian Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence
- Conditions
- Domestic Violence
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Setting Priorities for SafetyBehavioral: General risk and safety informationBehavioral: Danger AssessmentBehavioral: Basic Emergency Safety PlanBehavioral: Personalized Action Plan
- Registration Number
- NCT02258841
- Lead Sponsor
- Western University, Canada
- Brief Summary
The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of an interactive, online safety decision aid among diverse Canadian women who are experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). The investigators will also explore how the online intervention works, and whether it has different effects for different groups of women.
- Detailed Description
1 in 3 Canadian women experience IPV in their lifetimes. Over time, chronic stress of living in an abusive relationship has been shown to contribute to depression, anxiety and PTSD. Safety planning to reduce the risk of physical and emotional harm in abusive situations is one of the most widely recommended interventions for women in abusive relationship. However, fewer than 1 in 5 Canadian women access support from violence services to assist them in safety planning. Rural, Aboriginal, racialized, immigrant, sexual minority women and women who prioritize their privacy face particular barriers to accessing information and support for safety planning.
We adapted an interactive, online safety decision aid (SDA) recently developed and tested in the U.S. (Glass and colleagues, 2010) so that it applies to diverse groups of Canadian women, and extends the focus on emotional safety. The tool was revised based on a pilot testing for content and usability with 30 women (15 women who had experienced IPV and 15 service providers/experts). In this study, we test the effectiveness of this new tool, called "I CAN Plan 4 Safety" in a sample of 450 women from 3 provinces (ON, BC, New Brunswick). Women will be randomly assigned to complete either the personalized online safety decision aid (intervention) or an online tool which contains general risk and safety information (usual care control). Both tools are located on a confidential, password protected website. After initial completion of the online tools, they will be asked to login to the websites 3, 6 and 12 months later to complete standard outcome assessments. Women may access the information and resources in the online tools at any time for a 12 month period after they enrol in the study.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- Female
- Target Recruitment
- 462
- Women
- 19 years and older,
- English-speaking,
- Living in Ontario, New Brunswick, or British Columbia,
- Reports current physical, sexual or emotional abuse in the context of coercive control from a current or former partner (boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, or intimate/sexual partner)
- Expresses comfort with and access to a safe computer with internet
- Access to safe email and mailing address
- Men
- Under 19 years of age
- Cannot read/speak English
- Living outside of the 3 study sites
- Uncomfortable using a computer or internet
- No access to a safe computer with internet
- No access to safe email and mailing address
- Does not report current violence from an intimate partner
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Personalized online Safety Decision Aid Setting Priorities for Safety Setting priorities for safety; Danger Assessment; Personalized Action Plan Personalized online Safety Decision Aid Danger Assessment Setting priorities for safety; Danger Assessment; Personalized Action Plan Personalized online Safety Decision Aid Personalized Action Plan Setting priorities for safety; Danger Assessment; Personalized Action Plan General Online Risk/Safety Information General risk and safety information General Risk and Safety Information; Basic Emergency Safety Plan General Online Risk/Safety Information Basic Emergency Safety Plan General Risk and Safety Information; Basic Emergency Safety Plan
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Changes in depressive symptoms on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Revised baseline, 12 months 20 item self-report measure used to measure depressive symptoms in community samples and assess the probability of meeting criteria for major depressive disorder
Changes in PTSD symptomology on the PTSD Checklist (Civilian Version) baseline, 12 months 17 item self-report measure of PTSD symptoms designed for use in community samples and to assess probability of meeting DSM-IV diagnostic criterial for PTSD
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Changes in Decisional Conflict on the low literacy version of the Decisional Conflict Scale baseline, immediately post-intervention The low literacy version of the Decisional Conflict Scale is an established, self-report measure developed by the Ottawa Patient Decision Aids Research Group.
Changes in use of safety strategies on a Safety Behavior Checklist baseline, 12 months self-report measure of use and helpfulness of strategies to deal with violence, adapted from Goodman et als (2003) Intimate Partner Violence Strategies Index
Change in Mastery on Pearlin's Mastery Scale baseline, 12 months changes in self-efficacy for safety planning on investigator developed scales baseline, 12 months 2 self-report items which assess self-efficacy in making a safety plan for self and for children on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (range 0-100).
Trial Locations
- Locations (3)
University of British Columbia
🇨🇦Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
University of New Brunswick
🇨🇦Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Western University
🇨🇦London, Ontario, Canada