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

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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.

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

Conditions
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Dating Violence

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Skills Training (MBST)
* Behavioral: Psychoeducational


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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)

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Mindfulness-Based Skills Training<br>This intervention teaches students mindfulness-based skills to help manage their emotions when resolving conflict with their partners. The intervention is given over the course of three 50-minute sessions with homework between sessions. | Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Skills Training (MBST)<br>* 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.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Psychoeducational<br>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. | Behavioral: Psychoeducational<br>* 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.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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 Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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) | 
| 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) | 
| 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) | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Dating aggression, Emotion regulation, Mindfulness, Mindfulness-based skills, Romantic relationships, Dating relationships