Resilience and Recovery After Intimate Partner Violence - Evaluation of the EMBER-IPV Protocol

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex problem with extensive consequences for the individual as well as on a societal scale. In Sweden, there is a lack of accessible, cohesive, evidence-based models for biopsychosocial healthcare of survivors of IPV. A resilience-based intervention, the EMBER-protocol, has been developed at National Center for Knowledge on Men's Violence against Women (NCK) in Uppsala, Sweden. Based on cognitive behavior therapy and resilience research, the EMBER-protocol targets factors that have been found relevant for posttraumatic recovery and reorientation after IPV. The aim is to increase well-being and recovery, i.e. increase healthy functioning and reduce mental health symptoms in women who have been subjected to IPV. The protocol is conceptually divided into a stabilizing (A), a processing (B) and a reorienting (C) phase. This study is part of the EMBER-IPV-project, which purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of the EMBER-protocol, focusing on phases A and C, which are carried out by midwives and nurses. The research question in EMBER-3 is:

How do the subjects´ self-assessed levels of the following variables change during the course of the intervention: Well-being, Resilience, Health (general, somatic, mental, sexual and social), Stress and Shame? Data will be collected by self-assessment questionnaires at start and completion of phase A, at start, after completion of 0, 2 and 4 group sessions in phase B, as well as 6 weeks and 6 months post-group-intervention in phase C. Data will be analyzed with t-test and mixed effects models.