MISC-IPV: a Community-Based Intervention for Children Traumatized by Intimate Partner Violence

Overview

This study adapts and evaluates preliminary outcomes of the Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers (MISC) for women and children of color who have survived domestic violence.

Detailed description

The investigators propose that the adverse effects of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) trauma on children can be interrupted through an intervention that enhances maternal caregiving capacity delivered by paraprofessional caseworkers. The objective of this application is to adapt an established caregiver intervention program, Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers (MISC), for the IPV context (thereafter named MISC-IPV). Guided by an evidence-based framework for adapting caregiver-child training programs, the investigators take a three-phase approach (Adapt, Process Evaluation, Outcome/Mediator Evaluation) with the central hypothesis that acceptability and feasibility of MISC-IPV will be demonstrated and that MISC-IPV will show positive preliminary outcomes through the mechanism of enhanced maternal caregiving. In acknowledgement of significant health disparities faced by IPV-affected African American women, the investigators will conduct our research with African American women and their children. Successful completion of the project will result in a scalable community-based approach to IPV exposure that may provide a model for future integration of child-focused work into existing woman-focused IPV programs.

Interventions

• Behavioral MISC intervention
  MISC is a semi-structured, participatory caregiver intervention following these steps: (1) Identify the mother's personal and cultural characteristics, which include a respectful discussion around the mother's child-rearing views, objectives, needs and expectations. (2) Create a baseline through videotaped interactions. (3) Create caregivers' personal interaction profile on the basis of videotaped interaction. The caseworker builds on the initial videotaped interaction and uses subsequent bi-wee
• Behavioral Treatment as Usual (TAU)
  TAU consists of supportive services including trauma informed, client-centered, and strength-based case management and advocacy. All services are focused on the mother and do not include any child-focused intervention. Instead, staff provide in-home intensive case management services to assess and provide safety planning, assess other social service needs, link abused mothers to community resources, and assist clients in rehousing. TAU direct contact with the mother consists of bi-weekly contact

Primary outcome measures

• Mental health problems [Time frame: Baseline, six, 12, and 18 months.]
• Sensitive caregiving [Time frame: Baseline, six, 12, and 18 months.]

Eligibility criteria

Mother inclusion criteria:

• Enrolled in Harris County Domestic Violence rehousing program
• Fluency in English

Mother exclusion criteria:

• Active suicidality
• Intellectual disability
• Active psychotic disorder

Child inclusion criteria:

• Exposure to domestic violence
• 7-11 years old in a family

Child exclusion criteria:

• Intelligence quotient below 75,
• Active psychosis
• Severe autism
• Below age 7 or above age 11

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: Yes

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Single blind

Primary purpose

Prevention

Study locations

United States · 1 center

• University of Houston — Houston

Identifiers

NCT: NCT05948631 · STUDY00001728

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗