What's In It for Me? Motivating the Untreated Abuser to Consider Treatment.

This paper presents findings of a second trial evaluating telephone-based motivational enhancement therapy (MET) to motivate untreated and unadjudicated men who abuse their intimate partners to explore treatment options. Participants' perceptions of how their abuse is negatively affecting them personally are a highlight of the paper. One hundred forty-one adult men were recruited through social marketing and randomly assigned to the intervention (MET) or comparison (Mail) group. The MET condition consisted of two feedback sessions guided by a personalized feedback report on participants' intimate partner violence (IPV) and substance use. The Mail condition included a mailed educational brochure on IPV and substance use. Results supported the likely effectiveness of MET in short-term reduction of IPV behavior, marijuana use, and increasing motivation for treatment seeking particularly for participants who reported more adverse consequences of IPV to themselves. Findings emphasize the importance of including a focus in interventions on IPV's impact on the abusers themselves. The study's virtual participation and success in reaching and retaining a diverse population of male abusers can contribute to transformative justice and communities looking for alternative early interventions for men of color prior to encountering the criminal justice system.

Randomized trial of motivational interviewing plus feedback for soldiers with untreated alcohol abuse.

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are prevalent in the military and are a major public health concern. Although efficacious AUD interventions exist, few service members seek treatment. Army-specific barriers to AUD treatment include treatment being recorded on health records, command being notified of participation, and perceptions that seeking treatment would interfere with promotion or retention in the military. This study evaluated a telephone delivered motivational interviewing plus feedback (MIF) intervention designed to attract self-referral and reduce substance use from active-duty military with untreated AUD. METHOD: A randomized controlled trial enrolled 242 Army personnel who met criteria for AUD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) and who were not engaged in AUD treatment. Participants were screened and assessed at baseline, 1-week, and 3- and 6-month follow-ups. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 1 session of MIF or psychoeducation (control). All participation occurred over the telephone. Primary outcomes included number of drinks per week, substance use disorder (SUD) diagnosis and consequences, and treatment-seeking behavior. RESULTS: Generalized linear models were used to test group differences in drinking behaviors and substance use problems. Results indicated that all participants significantly reduced their drinking over time. MIF participants reported significantly fewer drinks per week than did control participants. Similarly, alcohol dependence diagnosis was marginally lower among MIF participants than control participants at the 6-month assessment. SUD treatment seeking significantly increased for both conditions. CONCLUSIONS: This novel adaptation of MIF shows promise for decreasing drinking and alcohol dependence among this high-risk sample of non-treatment-seeking soldiers and may complement existing AUD services already provided by the Army. (PsycINFO Database Record

Spicing up the military: Use and effects of synthetic cannabis in substance abusing army personnel.

Synthetic cannabis (SC) use has been increasing within the United States. Due to difficulties with its detection through standard testing, it may be an attractive substance of abuse for military personnel. However, few studies have examined the consequences of its use in this population, including evidence for its potential for abuse and dependence. Participants included 368 active-duty Army personnel who expressed interest in participating in a "check-up" around their alcohol or substance use, of whom 294 (80%) met DSM-IV criteria for substance abuse or dependence (including alcohol, illicit drugs, and prescription medications) and were not engaged in substance abuse treatment. Forty-one participants (11%) reported using SC in the last 90 days. Of those, 27 listed SC as their drug of choice. There were no significant differences in race, ethnicity, deployment history, or religion between SC users and others. Users of SC were generally younger and had less education and income than those who used only alcohol. Among SC users, 12% met criteria for drug abuse and 68% for dependence. Participants perceived SC use to be significantly more prevalent among military personnel than among civilians. Results suggest that SC is prevalent among substance-using soldiers and that DSM-IV criteria for abuse and dependence apply to SC. In addition, results highlight the importance of assessing and treating SC use among active-duty military personnel.

Reaching soldiers with untreated substance use disorder: lessons learned in the development of a marketing campaign for the Warrior Check-Up study.

The Warrior Check-Up, a confidential telephone-delivered intervention, is designed to reach active-duty soldiers with untreated substance-use disorder at a large U.S. military base. This paper describes the development and successful implementation of the study's marketing strategies at the recruitment period's midpoint (2010-2012). Qualitative analyses of focus groups (n = 26) and survey responses (n = 278) describe the process of campaign design. Measures of demographics, media exposure, post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression gathered from callers (n = 172) are used in quantitative analysis assessing the campaign's success in reaching this population. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed. Department of Defense provided study funding.

A Self-Determination Model of Childhood Exposure, Perceived Prevalence, Justification, and Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence.

The present research was designed to evaluate self-determination theory as a framework for integrating factors associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. The proposed model suggests that childhood exposure to parental violence may influence global motivational orientations which, in turn result in greater cognitive biases (overestimating the prevalence of IPV and justification of IPV) which, in turn, contribute to an individual's decision to use abusive behavior. Participants included 124 men who had engaged in abusive behavior toward an intimate partner. Results provided reasonable support for the proposed model and stronger support for a revised model suggesting that controlled orientation, rather than autonomy orientation, appears to play a stronger role in the association between childhood exposure to parental violence and cognitive biases associated with abusive behavior.

EXPOSURE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND CHILDHOOD EMOTIONAL ABUSE: Childhood Domestic Violence Exposure among a Community Sample of Adult Perpetrators: What Mediates the Connection?

The association between childhood exposure to domestic violence and later intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration in adulthood has been well established in the literature. However, the literature examining the factors of exposure that contribute to perpetration in adulthood is fraught with mixed findings, with some studies finding a direct link between childhood domestic violence exposure and later IPV perpetration and others ruling out a link after controlling for other contextual barriers such as community violence and socioeconomic status. This study examined 124 non-treatment-seeking and unadjudicated adult male IPV perpetrators and found exposure to domestic violence in childhood contributes to the normalization of violence, which could predict future adult IPV perpetration. Practice implications are discussed, namely primary and secondary prevention of intimate partner violence.

A Telephone Intervention for Substance-Using Adult Male Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence.

OBJECTIVE: To preliminarily evaluate telephone-delivered motivational enhancement therapy (MET) in motivating unadjudicated and nontreatment seeking intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators, who also use substances, to self-refer into treatment. METHOD: 124 adult men were recruited via a multimedia marketing campaign and were randomly assigned to the intervention (MET) or comparison group following a baseline assessment. Participants in the MET condition received a personalized feedback report on their IPV and substance-use behaviors, consequences, and social norms beliefs. RESULTS: Results supported the likely effectiveness of MET in short-term reduction of IPV behavior, increasing motivation for treatment seeking, and changing perceived norms for IPV and substance abuse (SA). CONCLUSIONS: Applications for brief MET interventions to facilitate voluntary treatment entry among substance-using IPV perpetrators are discussed.

Normative misperceptions of abuse among perpetrators of intimate partner violence.

This research was designed to evaluate the applicability of social norms approaches to interventions with male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV). Participants included 124 nonadjudicated IPV perpetrating men recruited from the general population who completed assessment of their own IPV behaviors via telephone interviews and estimated the prevalence of behaviors in other men. Results indicated that IPV perpetrators consistently overestimated the percentage of men who engaged in IPV and that their estimates were associated with violence toward their partner over the past 90 days. Findings provide preliminary support for incorporating social norms approaches into clinical applications.

Evaluating the impact of intimate partner violence on the perpetrator: the Perceived Consequences of Domestic Violence Questionnaire.

Surprisingly, little is known about how IPV perpetrators perceive the conse quences of their violent behavior. This article describes the development and evaluation of the Perceived Consequences of Domestic Violence Questionnaire (PCDVQ). The PCDVQ is a 27 item self report instrument designed to assess the consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV) as perceived by the perpetrator. Data from 124 nontreatment seeking, male, IPV perpetrators recruited from the community provided support for the internal consistency of the PCDVQ. Participants reported an average of 9.97 (SD = 4.57) consequences. Scores on the PCDVQ significantly predicted motivation for change, beta =.19, t(113) = 2.03, p < .05, and treatment seeking, chi(2)(df = 1) = 10.79, p < .01, odds ratio = 1.27 (95% CI: 1.10 1.46). Clinical implications of this instrument are discussed.

The men's domestic abuse check-up: a protocol for reaching the nonadjudicated and untreated man who batters and who abuses substances.

Batterer intervention programs primarily work with individuals mandated to participate. Commonly, attrition is high and outcomes are modest. Motivational enhancement therapy (MET), most widely studied in the substance abuse field, offers a potentially effective approach to improving self-referral to treatment, program retention, treatment compliance, and posttreatment outcomes among men who batter and who abuse substances. A strategy for using a catalyst variant of MET (a "check-up") to reach untreated, nonadjudicated perpetrators is described in detail. Unique challenges in evaluating the success of this approach are discussed, including attending to victim safety and determining indicators of increased motivation for change.

Self-Determination Theory and Motivational Interviewing: Complementary Models to Elicit Voluntary Engagement by Partner-Abusive Men.

Research examining intimate partner violence (IPV) has lacked a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding and treating behavior. The authors propose two complementary models, a treatment approach (Motivational Interviewing, MI) informed by a theory (Self-Determination Theory; SDT), as a way of integrating existing knowledge and suggesting new directions in intervening early with IPV perpetrators. MI is a client-centered clinical intervention intended to assist in strengthening motivation to change and has been widely implemented in the substance abuse literature. SDT is a theory that focuses on internal versus external motivation and considers elements that impact optimal functioning and psychological well-being. These elements include psychological needs, integration of behavioral regulations, and contextual influences on motivation. Each of these aspects of SDT is described in detail and in the context of IPV etiology and intervention using motivational interviewing.

Development of a Marketing Campaign to Recruit Non-adjudicated and Untreated Abusive Men for a Brief Telephone Intervention.

Although voluntary enrollment by abusive men in domestic violence perpetrator treatment programs occurs, most men enter treatment only after they have injured a partner or family member and have been arrested, convicted and sentenced. This leaves a serious gap for those who engage in abusive behavior but who have not been served by the legal or social service systems. To address this gap, the researchers applied social marketing principles to recruit abusive men to a telephone-delivered pre-treatment intervention (the Men's Domestic Abuse Check-Up-MDACU), designed to motivate non-adjudicated and untreated abusive men who are concurrently using alcohol and drugs to enter treatment voluntarily. This article discusses recruitment efforts in reaching perpetrators of intimate partner violence, an underserved population. Informed by McGuire's communication and persuasion matrix, the researchers describe three phases of the MDACU's marketing campaign: (1) planning, (2) early implementation, and (3) revision of marketing strategies based on initial results. The researchers' "lessons learned" conclude the paper.