Date of Submission

2015

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

Department Chair

Robert A DiTomasso, PhD, ABPP, Chair, Department of Psychology

First Advisor

Beverly White, PsyD, Chairperson

Second Advisor

Robert A DiTomasso, PhD, ABPP

Third Advisor

Dawn DeBrocco, PsyD

Abstract

The current study investigated psychoeducational programs for adult, female survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence in a community-based, nonprofit organization in the Northeastern United States. Participants’ trauma symptoms were measured by the Trauma Symptom Checklist-40 (Briere & Runtz, 1989) and knowledge of interpersonal violence was measured by a Client Questionnaire developed by the organization. The study used the intent-to-treat analysis, using paired-samples t-tests to examine changes from pretest to posttest. There were 35 participants in the sexual violence sample and 61 participants in the domestic violence sample. The results indicated that for participants in both the sexual violence psychoeducational program and the domestic violence psychoeducational program, knowledge significantly increased and trauma symptoms significantly decreased from pretest to posttest. Limitations inherent with conducting research in real-world community-based settings make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions. The results, although promising, therefore highlight the importance of continued research regarding the effectiveness of psychoeducation for survivors of interpersonal violence.

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