Couples Therapy for Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Open accessAbstract
Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem accompanied by substantial morbidity and mortality. Despite its documented impact on health, there is no widely recognized treatment of choice. Some studies indicate that couples suffering from situational violence may benefit from couples therapy, but professionals are cautious to risk the possibility of violent retaliation between partners. After a comprehensive literature search of 1,733 citations, this systematic review and meta‐analysis compiles the results of six studies to investigate the effectiveness of couples therapy as a treatment for violence. Preliminary data suggest that couples therapy is a viable treatment in select situations.
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Dyadic treatment for IPV is successful in treating couples who experience situational violence.
“Dyadic treatment for IPV has been found to be successful in treating couples who experience situational violence (Karakurt et al., 2016) but is contraindicated in relationships experiencing intimate partner terrorism or severe physical violence (Stith et al., 2011).”
From The relationship between emotional intimate partner violence and other forms of violence: A metaanalytic review. (2024) · cites this paper as Karakurt et al., 2016
The Discussion > Future Research (page unavailable) reports a moderate reduction in male-to-female situational violence following couples therapy. The Conclusions > Policy & Clinical Implications (page unavailable) limit the findings to mild-to-moderate situational violence and caution that benefits vary across couples. Thus, the source supports effectiveness in selected cases, but not the unqualified claim that dyadic treatment is successful for couples experiencing situational violence generally. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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Cites
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Harold, G. T., & Sellers, R. (2018) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.12893 · Cited by 383 · see citing works
Relationship dynamics associated with emotional IPV perpetration and victimization: A meta‐analysis
Keilholtz, B. M., Spencer, C. M., Vail, S., & Palmer, M. (2023) · Journal of Marital and Family Therapy · doi:10.1111/jmft.12630 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Palmer, M. L., Keilholtz, B. M., Vail, S. L., & Spencer, C. M. (2024) · Family Process · doi:10.1111/famp.12992 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
- Authors
- Karakurt, G., Whiting, K., van Esch, C., Bolen, S. D., & Calabrese, J. R.
- Affiliations
- Case Western Reserve University
- Case Western Reserve University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Marital and Family Therapy
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-07-05
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 567-583
- ISSN
- 0194-472X (ISSN-L)
- 1752-0606
- PMC
- PMC5050084
- OpenAlex
- W2472676088
- Cited by
- 158
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 1.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (KL2TR000440)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- couple therapy, intimate partner violence, domestic violence treatment, treatment effectiveness
- MeSH terms
- Intimate Partner Violence, Humans, Outcome Assessment, Health Care, Couples Therapy
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