Dr. Meagan Brem's proposal, “A Community-Based Approach to Developing a Brief Couples Intervention for Co-occurring Alcohol Use Disorder and Intimate Partner Violence,” was selected for funding by Virginia Tech's Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention. The grant is called the Pathways to Peace Project Grant, see below more details about this proposal.
Decades of research suggest that alcohol use is globally and acutely related to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, with more frequent and severe IPV occurring among couples affected by alcohol use disorder (AUD). Despite evidence that IPV and AUD frequently co-occur, interrelate, and are both heavily influenced by partners, no couple interventions exist to simultaneously reduce IPV and AUD. Couple therapy reduces IPV among mutually-violent couples, and couple AUD treatment is superior to individual AUD treatment. Thus, a dyadic approach that concurrently targets both partners’ IPV and AUD should be more effective and less costly than individual and sequential AUD and IPV treatments. The proposed project will use a community-based approach to develop and refine a brief couple intervention to concurrently reduce IPV and AUD among rural couples in the New River Valley area. We will conduct qualitative interviews with local stakeholders (16 prospective clinicians, 24 couples affected by AUD and/or IPV) to assess intervention needs, preferences, and barriers. Alongside community partners, and informed by stakeholder interviews, two focus groups, theory, and IPV/AUD intervention literature, we will develop and refine a novel treatment to reduce co-occurring AUD and IPV among rural couples to be piloted in a subsequent study.
Congratulations Dr. Brem on your award!