Long-Term Effectiveness of Trauma-Focused Therapy for Intimate Partner Violence Against Women: Effects on Posttraumatic Symptoms and Revictimization

The current study aimed to test the clinical effectiveness in the mid- and long-term of two versions of a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) tailored for intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) and with a focus on trauma: (a) with the incorporation of positive memories evocation (CBT-M+); and (b) without such evocation (CBT). Ninety-one female survivors of IPVAW entered a randomized controlled trial comparing CBT (<i>n</i> = 41) and CBT-M+ (<i>n</i> = 50). Pretreatment, post-treatment, and 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up measures were obtained for: posttraumatic stress, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, impairment, and exposure to violence (psychological, physical, sexual, and injury). A total of 45.05% of women who entered treatment dropped out, without significant differences between treatments. Both treatments resulted in significant improvements along the follow-ups, with good effect sizes, for posttraumatic stress (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>η</mml:mi><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msubsup></mml:mrow></mml:math> = 0.42), anxiety (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>η</mml:mi><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msubsup></mml:mrow></mml:math> = 0.25), depression (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>η</mml:mi><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msubsup></mml:mrow></mml:math> = 0.21), self-esteem (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>η</mml:mi><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msubsup></mml:mrow></mml:math> = 0.33) and impairment (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>η</mml:mi><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msubsup></mml:mrow></mml:math> = 0.28); group effect and time-group interactions were not significant. Both treatments significantly reduced the percentage of women diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder, while they also led to reductions in depression, low self-esteem, and impairment. In addition, CBT-M+ significantly reduced the percentage of women with anxiety problems. The presence of psychological (90%-52.5%), physical (82.5%-30%), and sexual (62.5%-15%) violence significantly decreased at 12 months for both treatments, while the decrease in injury was significant only for the CBT group. These results show that both versions of the treatment accomplished long-term effects, improving clinically and significantly women's emotional state and reducing revictimization, with no differences between them. Moreover, these improvements were consolidated and even increased over time. The study therefore provides valuable information about the potential of this CBT for women's overall recovery and healing.Trial registration: ISRCTN Registry (ref. ISRCTN73702156) (https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN73702156).