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When Disclosure Isn’t the Goal: Exploring Responses to Partner Violence Victimization Screening and Universal Education among Youth and Adults

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Abstract

Efforts to connect intimate partner violence (IPV) and teen dating violence (TDV) survivors with services rely heavily on victimization screening, despite extensive evidence that many will not disclose abuse even with the best-available screening tools. This study examines how two forms of brief IPV/TDV intervention (screening and universal education) affect important outcomes other than disclosure, including participants’ perceptions of options and resources for addressing IPV/TDV and maintaining safety. This study applies regression models and inductive qualitative analysis to survey data from adults (N = 646) and youth (N = 648) and accompanying qualitative interview data to explore participants’ perceptions of safety-related resources and options after completing a set of randomly assigned brief IPV/TDV interventions. Brief IPV/TDV interventions (including screening and universal education) may influence safety options and connection to resources, even in the absence of disclosure. The brief interventions examined in this study supported participants’ awareness of available resources and sparked personal reflection and insight. Organizational-level outcomes included stronger community partnerships, increased capacity for communicating about IPV/TDV, and expanded services for survivors. These outcomes appeared to be strongly shaped by how staff approached IPV/TDV-related interactions with participants. Implementation of brief IPV/TDV interventions in the context of high school and community-based relationship education programs represent a promising strategy for promoting safety and safety-related empowerment among youth and adult survivors. Future research should continue to examine outcomes of such interventions beyond disclosure.

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Notes

  1. We use the term “screening” to refer to tools and protocols for identifying the presence of IPV and TDV victimization in order to better serve patients or clients. This is sometimes referred to as “assessment” (to convey that it is intended to guide service provision, not to include or exclude individuals from services). We use “screening” in this article for consistency with the broader research literature on tools and protocols for identifying IPV and TDV and to distinguish the very brief, structured interactions that were tested in this study from the kind of in-depth IPV/TDV assessments that would be conducted by a professional victim advocate.

  2. Cisgender refers to individuals whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth.

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Acknowledgements

This study would not have been possible without the commitment and talent of the healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) program leadership, staff, and domestic violence partners whose efforts made it possible and whose insights were invaluable. We are also deeply indebted to the HMRE program participants who generously agreed to share their experiences with (and reflections on) strategies for identifying and responding to teen dating violence in the context of HMRE programs. Finally, we wish to thank Samantha Illangasekare at the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) for her insightful leadership throughout the study and invaluable guidance on this manuscript. We also appreciate the helpful feedback received from Maria Woolverton and Naomi Goldstein of OPRE, Seth Chamberlain of the Office of Family Assistance, and Damien Frierson of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Program at various stages of the study and manuscript development.

Funding

This research was funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families under contract HHSP23320095651WC.

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  1. Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Tasseli E. McKay

  2. RTI International, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, USA

    Tasseli E. McKay, Marni L. Kan & Justin Landwehr

  3. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Elizabeth Miller

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McKay, T.E., Kan, M.L., Landwehr, J. et al. When Disclosure Isn’t the Goal: Exploring Responses to Partner Violence Victimization Screening and Universal Education among Youth and Adults. J Fam Viol 37, 487–504 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-021-00272-7

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