K-State receives military contract to research intimate partner violence

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Kansas State University researchers receive military contracts to research intimate partner violence and prevention.

Kansas State University says two professors have received U.S. military contracts for almost $1.74 million for intimate partner violence prevention and intervention research.

The University says the first contract went to Sandra Stith, a university distinguished professor of couple and family therapy, and Chelsea Spencer, a research assistant professor of couple and family therapy. The pair say the grant is just over $1.169 million from the Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy Installation Command for a project to test the effectiveness of a domestic abuse risk assessment tool used by Department of Defense domestic abuse victim advocates.

Stith says she and other researchers in a different previously funded K-State project developed the Intimate Partner Physical Injury Risk Assessment Tool. The tool has 15 items to collect information from victims, offenders, police reports and more to determine the level of risk for future intimate partner violence resulting in injury which was tested by Department of Defense treatment providers. Stith says the tool’s use is now mandated in all four service branches.

Stith and Spencer say they are seeking to determine the effectiveness of the tool when used by military domestic abuse victim advocates that only interview victims.

The University says the second contract is a subcontract issued by Knowesis for the U.S. Air Force Mental Health Resilience Program Evaluation and Enhancement project for just under $569,000. The goal of the project is to prevent and respond to domestic abuse in the Air Force says the school.

Specific projects of the second contract include training outreach managers at various bases to use online prevention programs, testing the effectiveness of those programs and examining data to determine the effectiveness of the treatment programs used by treatment providers.

Stith and Spencer say they will also provide training to Air Force staff on multiple programs such as a four-hour program designed to increase the patient’s readiness to change.