Citation

Burge SK, Katerndahl DA, Becho J, Wood R, Rodriguez J, Ferrer R. Violence Vict. 2019; 34(1): 136-156.

Affiliation

Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Springer Publishing)

DOI

10.1891/0886-6708.34.1.136

PMID

30808798

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This research team uses complexity science to gain a deeper understanding of daily dynamics of intimate partner violence (IPV). This report describes research methods for gathering daily information about patterns of partner violence and alcohol use from couples in near-real time, and addresses recruitment and retention, adherence to study protocol, data validity, and participant safety.

METHODS: Researchers enrolled 20 heterosexual couples with violent relationships from a primary healthcare center. Every day for 8 weeks, participants telephoned an interactive voice response (IVR) system and responded to 33 survey questions assessing violence, alcohol use, and household environment. They also completed baseline and end-of-study surveys.

RESULTS: Of 20 enrolled couples, 15 completed the study, providing 90% adherence to daily reporting. Participants reported verbal aggression on an average of 11-13 days over 8 weeks, and physical abuse on an average of 2-4 days. Alcohol use was modest and infrequent. Women and men differed in their reports of women's physical aggression. No reports of physical violence were correlated with social desirability.

CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated the feasibility of enrolling and engaging both women and men in daily longitudinal research about partner violence and described advantages of IVR in daily longitudinal research.

© Copyright 2019 Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

Language: en

Keywords

alcohol use; domestic violence; heterosexual couples; research methodology; telephone data collection