Healthy Relationships Training Study: A Comparison of Interventions to Reduce Dating Violence on College Campuses

Dating Violence Clinical Trial

— HRTS  

Official title:

Healthy Relationships Training Study: Comparing the Efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Skills Training to a Psychoeducational Intervention at Reducing Dating Violence on College Campuses

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03950128
• Other study ID #: 17-547
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: February 5, 2018
• Est. completion date: December 2, 2018

Study information

• Verified date: May 2019
• Source: Kent State University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of a mindfulness-based skills training (MBST) to a psychoeducational intervention at reducing dating violence in a sample of college students. The MBST focuses on improving college students' abilities to manage emotionally charged states during conflict with their romantic partners by teaching them mindfulness-based skills. The psychoeducational intervention uses the Love is Not Abuse curriculum. Treatment groups are randomly assigned and are compared using a two-armed parallel design.

88 college students currently in a dating relationship were recruited through Kent State University's subject pool. All participants completed a baseline assessment online where self-reported data was collected on demographics, dating violence (during the past month), emotion regulation, mindfulness skills, and other potential covariates. Participants were then randomized into either the MBST intervention or the psychoeducational intervention. All participants completed three 50-minute sessions over the course of three weeks with assigned homework between sessions. Daily diary data was collected, assessing knowledge and use of skills learned in the sessions. Follow-up data was collected online 11 weeks following baseline (dating violence (during the last month), emotion regulation, mindfulness skills).

It was hypothesized that the MBST intervention would be more effective at reducing dating violence as compared to the psychoeducational intervention.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 88
• Est. completion date: December 2, 2018
• Est. primary completion date: December 2, 2018
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• In a current dating relationship (of 6 months or longer)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosed with psychopathology (Major Depressive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder)

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Dating Violence

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Mindfulness-Based Skills Training (MBST)
This intervention teaches students mindfulness-based skills to help manage their emotions when resolving conflict with their partners. The skills followed the "ABCDE" acronym. ABCDE stands for awareness, breathing, checking in with your feelings and thoughts, describing your experience, and expressing what you want to change. Students learned about the skills and had opportunities to practice them as well.
• Psychoeducational
This intervention is based on the Love is Not Abuse (LINA) Curriculum (Liz Claiborne Education Development Center (n.d.)). It was adapted to be given over the course of three 50-minute sessions. The selected materials covered (a) what dating abuse is, (b) the pattern of abuse and, (c) technology and dating abuse. The curriculum is interactive and includes handouts, activities, and discussion.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Kent State University	Kent	Ohio

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Kent State University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change in Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory (CADR; Wolfe et al., 2001)	A 35-item self-report measure of physical, verbal, and sexual dating violence.	Baseline (4th week of semester) and Follow-up (11 weeks after baseline)
Secondary	Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS; Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004)	This self-report measure has a total of 39 items with four subscales that assess: observing (e.g., I notice when my moods begin to change), describing (e.g., I'm good at finding the words to describe my feelings), accepting without judgment (e.g., I criticize myself for having irrational or inappropriate emotions [reverse scored]), and acting with awareness (e.g., When I'm doing something, I'm only focused on what I'm doing, nothing else).	Baseline (4th week of semester) and Follow-up (11 weeks after baseline)
Secondary	The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004)	This self-report measure asks participants to indicate how often a series of items applies to them (36 items total), rated on a 5-point scale (1 = almost never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = about half of the time, 4 = most of the time, 5 = almost always). The six subscales are: lack of emotional awareness (e.g., "When I'm upset, I take time to figure out what I'm really feeling" [reverse scored]), lack of emotional clarity (e.g., "I have difficulty making sense out of my feelings"), nonacceptance of emotional responses (e.g., "When I'm upset, I become angry with myself for feeling that way"), impulse control difficulties (e.g., "When I'm upset, I lose control over my behaviors"), limited access to emotion regulation strategies (e.g., "When I'm upset, believe that wallowing in it is all I can do"), and difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior (e.g., "When I'm upset, I have difficulty thinking about anything else").	Baseline (4th week of semester) and Follow-up (11 weeks after baseline)
Secondary	3. Intimate Partner Violence Attitudes Scale-Revised (IPVAS-R; Fincham, Cui, Braithwaite, & Pasley, 2008)	This self-report measure asks participants to indicate how strongly they agree or disagree with a series of 17 statements on a five-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree, 5 = Strongly agree). There are three subscales: abuse (e.g., "During a heated argument, it is okay for me to bring up something from my partner's past to hurt him or her"), control (e.g., "It is okay for me to tell my partner not to talk to someone of the opposite sex"), and violence (e.g., "It would never be appropriate to hit or try to hit one's partner with an object" [reverse scored]).	Baseline (4th week of semester) and Follow-up (11 weeks after baseline)