Intervention to reduce traumatic stress following intimate partner violence: an efficacy trial of the Moms' Empowerment Program (MEP)

Abstract

A 10-week, group therapeutic-oriented community-based intervention, the Moms' Empowerment Program (MEP), was tested with 181 children and their mothers exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) during the past year. Women's experiences of intimate partner violence and traumatic stress were assessed with standardized measures. A sequential assignment procedure allocated participants to three conditions: mother-plus-child intervention (M+C), child-only intervention (CO), and a wait list comparison (CG). The tensession group intervention program was designed to empower women thereby reducing traumatic stress and enhancing their coping in the aftermath of exposure to IPV. Eighty-one percent were diagnosed with PTSD. While women in all three conditions improved over time, those in the M+C condition showed the greatest reduction in traumatic stress as compared to CO or CG conditions. Of those M+C women diagnosed with PTSD, the reliable change rate was 85% no longer diagnosed.