The Revised Safe At Home Instrument for Assessing Readiness to Change Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

This article describes the development and factor structure of the Revised Safe At Home instrument, a 35-item self-report measure designed to assess individuals' readiness to change their intimate partner violence behaviors. Seven new items have been added, representing content specific to the Maintenance stage, and other items have been revised to strengthen the assessment of earlier stages and address gender concerns. Confirmatory factor analysis using multisite data (two sites, a total of 281 men at intake) supported the conclusion that a four-factor model (Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation/Action, and Maintenance stages) was consistent with the observed covariances. A high degree of correlation between the Preparation/Action and Maintenance scales was observed, but subsequent testing indicated a need to treat the two as distinct factors in the model. It is recommended that scoring include only 31 items that perform well.

Expanding Knowledge Concerning the Safe at Home Instrument for Assessing Readiness to Change Among Individuals in Batterer Treatment

“…This cross-sectional study engaged 246 participants from 6 IPV batterer treatment programs. Analyses consisted of computing scale totals and means for 5 scales (precontemplation, contemplation, preparation/action, maintenance, and overall readiness), comparing scores for men and women, and drawing comparisons with reports at treatment intake only (Begun et al, 2008;Begun et al, 2003). Findings indicated similar scores on precontemplation and contemplation but significantly higher scores on preparation/action, maintenance, and overall readiness compared to the previous study.…”

“…According to the TMBC, individuals traverse a cycle of stages in the change process to prepare for, achieve, and maintain intentional behavior change (Begun et al, 2008;Prochaska, 2008;Prochaska & DiClemente, 2005). Although multifaceted, each stage in the change process involves specific thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors related to one's change efforts (Begun et al, 2008;DiClemente et al, 1991;Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992;Prochaska, Norcross, & DiClemente, 1994).…”

“…Although multifaceted, each stage in the change process involves specific thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors related to one's change efforts (Begun et al, 2008;DiClemente et al, 1991;Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992;Prochaska, Norcross, & DiClemente, 1994). The model's stages are defined as precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance (Connors, Donovan, & DiClemente, 2001).…”

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The Revised Safe at Home instrument (Begun et al, 2008) is based on application of the transtheoretical model of behavior change (TMBC) and offers clinicians and clients an assessment tool to measure client readiness for changing intimate partner violence (IPV) behaviors. Scale scores from this tool can be used to assess client readiness to change and evaluate treatment program outcomes.

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“…Motivational interviewing used during intake or as a pretreatment for perpetrators of IPV has been shown to increase readiness to change and to promote batterer engagement in the treatment process (Eckhardt, Murphy, Black, & Suhr, 2006;Kistenmacher & Weiss, 2008;Musser, Semiatin, Taft, & Murphy, 2008). Motivational interviewing and readiness to change measurements may work in tandem for establishing therapeutic alliance and helping to match clients with appropriate levels of treatment (Begun et al, 2008;Begun et al, 2003;Murphy & Maiuro, 2009). The link between motivational interviewing and the Revised Safe at Home instrument may help to refine IPV intervention methods (Murphy & Maiuro, 2009).…”