ACTV Research
Our investigators have adapted Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to disrupt violent behaviors among perpetrators of intimate partner violence. The adapted model, Achieving Change Through Value-Based Behavior (ACTV) targets factors that maintain the perpetration of violence through the utilization of mindfulness-based interventions and the cultivation of psychological flexibility. Studies conducted over the past several years have demonstrated promising initial support for the ACTV.
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Empirically Supported
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Collaborative
Intervention
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Expert
Facilitation
Batterers Intervention Programs (BIPs) were developed as an alternative to incarceration and are designed to reduce recidivism among domestic violence offenders through psychological treatment. The Duluth and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approaches have historically been and remain the dominant models for violence intervention programs and often take the form of weekly group sessions lasting anywhere from 8-52 weeks.
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The Duluth Model is the most widely implemented batterers intervention program in the United States. This approach adopts a gender-based framework for understanding intimate partner violence, conceptualizing abuse as rooted in patriarchal beliefs and used to exert power and control over women. Programming is typically delivered in a didactic format and employs a confrontational facilitation style. The primary goals are to educate participants about violence, challenge gender-based stereotypes, and reshape their understanding of healthy, equitable interpersonal relationships.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)–based batterer intervention programs conceptualize violence as a learned behavior that is maintained by maladaptive beliefs and cognitive distortions. These programs focus on identifying and restructuring problematic cognitions, as well as increasing awareness of the connections between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Intervention is typically delivered in a structured, didactic format and includes psychoeducation on topics such as healthy communication, emotional regulation, and anger management.
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Hybrid models combine elements of the Duluth Model and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) within a single batterer intervention program. These approaches integrate feminist theories of power and control with CBT-based strategies such as cognitive restructuring, skills development, and psychoeducation. The goal is to address both the belief systems that support abusive behavior and the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral patterns that contribute to its continuation. By blending accountability-focused education with practical tools for behavior change, hybrid models aim to reduce recidivism and promote healthier, non-violent relationship behaviors.
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Unlike traditional Batterer Intervention Programs, ACTV uses interventions that focus on processes shown to reduce abusive and controlling behaviors, rather than on factors that merely predict violence or explain its onset. The program specifically targets why violent behavior is maintained over time—how participants respond to their thoughts and how they engage with their emotions and environmental experiences—emphasizing the function, rather than the content, of perpetrators’ internal experiences to reduce intimate partner violence.
Evidence of Effectiveness
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This study was the first to provide scientific evidence that an ACT-based group intervention could be beneficial in reducing physical and psychological partner aggression among adults with one or more clinical diagnoses.
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This study investigated the effects of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) group-based treatment on reducing physical and psychological partner aggression among adults compared to a support-and-discussion-based control group. Additionally, the researchers were interested in studying how experiential avoidance (i.e. unwillingness to remain in contact with aversive thoughts, feelings, and sensations) and emotion dysregulation (i.e. inability to effectively manage emotions) were related to partner aggression and whether focusing on these constructs through an ACT-based group treatment would help reduce the incidence of partner aggression.
The study sample consisted of 101 participants who had engaged in at least two acts of partner aggression. Participants met diagnoses for a range of mental health disorders including mood disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, and borderline and antisocial personality disorder. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: ACT or support-and-discussion control, each of which comprised a total of 24 hours over the course of 12 weeks. Participants were assessed pretreatment, during treatment, posttreatment, and 3 and 6 months after completion of group.
Overall, the results indicated that the ACT curriculum led to significant reductions in psychological and physical aggression compared to the control group. Additionally, the gains achieved at posttreatment were retained or rather improved over the 6-month follow-up period. Furthermore, the ACT group reduced experiential avoidance and emotion dysregulation, and these reductions partially accounted for decreased acts of partner violence.
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This study builds on the initial evidence for ACTV’s effectiveness as a successful intervention program for reducing recidivism among men arrested for domestic assault. Posttreatment, ACTV participants were half as likely to be charged with violent offenses compared to participants attending standard batterers intervention programs (BIPs).
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This study examined the impact of two domestic violence intervention programs (BIPs and ACTV) on reducing new criminal charges 1-year from initial treatment. Data were analyzed from a sample of 3,474 men who were arrested for domestic assault and were subsequently required by the court to participate in a BIP. Men in both groups had an average of two previous charges at the beginning of the program.
The investigators found that although more men completed the BIP compared to the ACTV group, fewer men in the ACTV program received a charge during treatment than those in the BIP. Program differences were greater posttreatment, such that even fewer ACTV participants were charged at 1-year following program completion compared to men in the BIP group. More specifically, ACTV participants were half as likely to be charged with violent offenses than BIP participants posttreatment. Overall, comparing recidivism rates between ACTV and BIPs 1-year postintervention, ACTV participants were significantly less likely to be arrested for any charge, domestic assault charges, and any violent charges.
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Along with other research studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of ACTV compared to other standard domestic violence treatment approaches, this study indicated the usefulness of ACTV outside of its founding state of Iowa. Researchers in this study found evidence that ACTV participants were 50% less likely than treatment as usual (TAU) participants to receive any new convictions following treatment.
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This study examined how ACTV compared to existing standard treatment protocols (e.g., the Duluth Model, cognitive-behavioral approach) in reducing recidivism. 725 men in Minnesota convicted of domestic assault were assigned to participate in either ACTV or treatment-as-usual (TAU). Recidivism was assessed up to 5 years posttreatment.
Participants enrolled in ACTV were significantly more likely to complete the domestic violence program compared to TAU participants. Men participating in ACTV were less likely to receive new convictions for violent crimes and domestic assault compared to those who participated in TAU, as well as any new convictions more generally. Finally, participants who were convicted of a crime post-treatment were more likely to receive a conviction sooner after attending TAU as compared to ACTV participants. Taken together, men who participated in ACTV were over 50% less likely to receive any new convictions following treatment compared to those in TAU.
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Along with strengthening the evidence for the effectiveness of an ACT-based approach for reducing recidivism compared to existing standard treatment protocols, this study broadened the assessment of intimate partner violence and incorporated victim reports in addition to self-report questionnaires.
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This study compared the impact of two domestic violence curricula (ACT and Duluth Model) on reducing intimate partner violence and criminal charges. The sample comprised men who were court-mandated to complete a domestic assault program after being convicted of assault against a female partner. A total of 338 men, who were ruled a moderate to high risk for recidivism, were randomly assigned to attend a 24-session non-violence class using either the ACT program or the Duluth Model.
The results indicated that participants who attended ACT classes acquired significantly fewer violent charges than those who participated in the Duluth Model at 1-year follow-up. Similarly, the incidence of nonviolent charges also significantly differed across the two groups; while 30% of men in the Duluth group were charged with nonviolent offenses, only 18.7% of men in the ACT group received nonviolent charges at the 1-year follow-up. No significant differences were observed in domestic violence charges across the two groups. In addition to analyzing criminal justice outcomes for program participants, this study also explored responses from domestic assault victims (N =98) pre-and-post-treatment. Victim reports indicated that ACT participants engaged in significantly less aggressive, controlling, and stalking behaviors at 1-year follow-up compared to Duluth participants.
ACTV Adaptations
The success of past adaptations of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) provide an encouraging base for further expansion through our model, ACTV.
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At least 25% of women and 5% of men are sexually assaulted during college (RAINN, 2019). Sexual misconduct can include intimidation (sexual threat, indecent exposure), exploitation (non-consensually recording, voyeurism) harassment (non-consensually texting, calling, etc.) and assault (including rape). Unfortunately, few incidents of sexual assault lead to expulsion. Moreover, current disciplinary action, or lack thereof, does not end the end violence.
As such, researchers at the University of Iowa adapted the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) framework to create an intervention for sexual misconduct on college campuses called Cognitive, Emotion Regulation, and Behavioral Skills Training (CERB). The program included 21-25 students from 2017-2021 who were mandated to complete the program.
Preliminary results suggest that CERB may reduce cognitive fusion, avoidance, difficulties in emotion regulation and increase connection with values. Initial qualitative data suggests that most participants change the way they thought about the incident and have new strategies to behave differently in the future.
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A reported 60–70% of adolescents detained in the juvenile justice system meet criteria for a mental health disorder, as compared to 20% of the general adolescent population. Unfortunately, mental health symptoms often worsen during detainment and the vast majority of adolescents do not receive mental health services. Taken together, these adolescents, who often identify as a member from an underserved and minoritized population, are unlikely to receive needed mental health care and the lack of interventions in detention centers may exacerbate inequities of contact with the criminal justice system in adulthood.
As such, researchers piloted an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based intervention to be implemented in juvenile detention centers called Building Resilience and Emotional Awareness through Knowledge Program (BREAK). Study participants included 128 males aged 14–17 who resided in a juvenile detention center.
Following program completion, results indicated that BREAK participants demonstrated significant pre- to post-intervention declines in anxiety symptoms, and in ACT-based constructs of experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and perceived barriers to moving toward their values.
Duchschere, J.E., O’Hara, K.L., Reznik, S.J., Shanholtz, C.E., Gerson, N., Beck, C.J., & Lawrence, E. (2022). Addressing a mental health intervention gap in juvenile detention: A pilot study. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. doi:10.1080/23794925.2022.2042873.
Additional Relevant Scholarship
Adapting Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Target Intimate Partner Violence
Online Administration of Questionnaires Assessing Psychological, Physical, and Sexual Aggression: Establishing Psychometric Equivalence
Emotion Regulation and Experiential Avoidance in Intimate Partner Violence
Comparing Three Measures of Psychological Aggression: Psychometric Properties and Differentiation from Negative Communication
Contact Us
Thank you for your interest in the ACTV project. We are available to answer any questions you have about the program or collaborators. If you have any feedback, leave it in this form here.
The Family Institute
The Family Institute at Northwestern University - Headquarters
618 Library Place
Evanston, IL 60201Phone: 312-869-6043
Email: contactactv2@gmail.com