Trial of a group programme intervention for men who abuse women
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Feasibility of a randomised controlled trial of a group programme for men who are concerned about their behaviour in relationships with women: pilot study
IRAS ID
178666
Contact name
Gene S Feder
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 31 days
Research summary
Research Summary
Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a serious public and clinical health problem. This application is part of a larger programme of research that plans to improve how healthcare professionals respond to all adult patients who experience or perpetrate DVA and to their children. In this pilot trial we will develop a group programme for men who perpetrate DVA to help them stop being abusive to women.Programmes for men who perpetrate DVA exist, but we don’t know enough about whether they work for the men or victims/survivors of DVA. The researchers and a group of experts have consulted on which is the most promising programme and this has been adapted and will be tested in a small group of men who have perpetrated DVA and their partners or ex-partners. We plan to recruit up to 48 Men who use abusive behaviour and their female partners/ex-partners. Half of the men will be randomly allocated to either the intervention group or the control group, which in this case is no intervention. The partners or ex-partners in the intervention group will receive support from a named person through women's services and women in the control group will be signposted to their nearest specialist agency for support. Men and women will complete a series of questionnaires and interviews at the start of the trial and then at 3, 6 and 9 months following the date of joining.
We will measure the extent to which safety has increased and whether abuse has stopped/decreased and also test whether it is possible to recruit men and women into this research and whether we will be able to follow them up for up to 12 months. This way we will begin to understand whether any changes that happen last for the months following the programme.
Summary of Results
This was a feasibility study and the principal result was a decision to go forward to full trial, taking into account all lessons learned.REC name
South Central - Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SC/0096
Date of REC Opinion
19 Apr 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion