Summary Survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) are at risk for serious health consequences, and providing effective psychosocial interventions to support these individuals is a major global health challenge. Previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses in this field do not allow for clear conclusions about the efficacy of these interventions, owing to a narrow focus on specific subpopulations or intervention formats. This protocol presents a systematic review and meta-analysis, which will provide a comprehensive overview of the empirical evidence of various psychosocial interventions for survivors of IPV and investigate their efficacy in improving safety-related, mental health and psychosocial outcomes both overall and within homogeneous subgroups (trial registration: https://osf.io/4gp95). We will systematically search the literature databases PsycInfo, MEDLINE, Embase and CENTRAL. Randomised controlled trials evaluating the efficacy of psychosocial interventions in increasing the safety or mental health of IPV survivors compared with a control group will be eligible. We will extract relevant data from eligible studies and assess study quality using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 (RoB 2) tool. We will qualitatively summarise the results and we will calculate weighted effect sizes under random effect model assumption for the primary outcomes IPV, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. We will perform subgroup analyses to investigate the moderating effects of theoretical basis, delivery mode, intensity and setting of psychosocial interventions. The resultant overview of the current body of evidence for psychosocial interventions for IPV survivors is intended to inform future research and practice.
Survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) face serious health-related, social and economic consequences. Prior meta-analyses indicate efficacy of psychosocial interventions for support of IPV survivors, but their results are affected by methodological limitations. Extensive subgroup analyses on the moderating effects of intervention and study characteristics are lacking. To address these limitations in an up-to-date and comprehensive meta-analytic review, four literature databases (PsycInfo, Medline, Embase, and CENTRAL, March 23, 2022) were searched for randomized-controlled trials examining the efficacy of psychosocial interventions compared to control groups in improving safety-related, mental health, and psychosocial outcomes in IPV survivors. Weighted effects on IPV, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and psychosocial outcomes were calculated under random-effects assumption. Subgroup analyses were performed to investigate moderating effects of predefined intervention and study characteristics. Study quality was rated. In all, 80 studies were included in qualitative synthesis, and 40 studies in meta-analyses. Psychosocial interventions significantly reduced symptoms of depression (SMD: −0.15 [95% confidence interval, CI [−0.25, −0.04]; p = .006], I2 = 54%) and PTSD (SMD: −0.15 [95% CI [−0.29, −0.01]; p = .04], I2 = 52%), but not IPV reexperience (SMD: −0.02 [95% CI [ −0.09, 0.06]; p = .70], I2 = 21%) compared to control conditions at post. High-intensive and integrative interventions, combining advocacy-based and psychological components, were favorable subgroups. Yielded effects were modest and not maintained long term. The quality of evidence was low and potential harms remain unclear. Future research should adopt higher standards of research conduct and reporting and must account for the complexity and diversity of IPV experiences.
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