Relationship and Sexual Violence-Assessment Initiative

In 2016, Washington University in St. Louis announced stepping up its efforts to stop sexual assault — expanding both prevention programs and crisis services and launching a new research initiative to develop and test solutions. For more information, please click here.

Obuvumu

Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the overall goal of the Obuvumu study is to inform the future development of culturally appropriate, feasible, acceptable, and effective interventions to increase health service utilization among female survivors of sexual violence. High numbers of women experience sexual violence in Uganda, and this includes violence from intimate and non-intimate partners. Studies of past year violence have revealed that three out of four females were exposed to at least one type of sexual violence: one out of four are victims of sexual coercion, and one out of four have experienced forced sex. Experiencing sexual violence has harmful effects on physical and mental health including: unwanted pregnancy, physical injury, risky behaviors, sexual risk-taking behaviors exposing women to sexually-transmitted infections, chronic stress, depression, low self-esteem, and lack of control over reproductive choices. The negative impacts of sexual violence can be mitigated by health services providing timely and effective interventions that target injury management and psychological support. However, health services for victims of sexual violence in Uganda, and much of sub-Saharan Africa, are vastly underutilized to the extent that nine out of 10 females who experience sexual violence never seek care. Many factors contribute to limited uptake of health services in Uganda and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa for sexual violence survivors, including psychological, cultural, economic, and other factors, such as fear and stigma. Further, health services for victims often lack sufficiently qualified staff and medical supplies, and confidentiality cannot be ensured. In the absence of timely and effective treatment, high rates of sexual violence result in serious psychological and physical consequences at a population level and compromise future social and economic development. Thus, there is a strong need for research that will generate knowledge that may be used to improve health service utilization for survivors of sexual violence. For more information, please visit https://ichad.wustl.edu/obuvumu/.

PI: Lindsay Stark
PI: Massy Mutumba
PI: Fred Ssewamala

Building Partnerships to Support LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers in Mexico

This project, funded by a Here & Next seed grant from Washington University in St. Louis, aims to create research partnerships with operational agencies along the Texas and Mexico border. We will convene with partners in person and establish a connection with international and local agencies already working to support LGBTQ+ migrants along their route to the U.S.-Mexico border. Alongside partners, we will co-develop a research agenda and obtain funding for a larger study, with the objective of filling a critical gap in the documentation of LGBTQ+ experiences and needs along migratory routes for asylum seekers from Central America. The research team will work with local agencies to design a study that examines the drivers of displacement across Central American contexts, explores the migratory risks associated with being a sexual and/or gender minority, investigates the role of social support networks, and addresses organizational needs to improve supports for LGBTQ+ asylum seeker mental health and wellbeing. 

PI: Lindsay Stark
PI: Jeremy Goldbach
PI: Julia Lopez

Can Child Savings Accounts Prevent Maltreatment?

This project assessed whether an asset-building approach is effective in promoting a safe, stable and nurturing relationship that reduces risk of child maltreatment. For more information, please click here.

Gender-based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS+) Evaluation

The Gender-based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS+) is an inter-agency survivor-centered system that provides a technological solution to providers of GBV case management services in humanitarian settings. In addition to helping case workers and supervisors systematically manage case information, the tool honors principles of safety, non-discrimination, and the right to self-determination, facilitates the quality assessment of services, and generates aggregate, anonymized statistics to inform improved GBV prevention and response efforts. Washington University in St. Louis will be leading an upcoming evaluation of GBVIMS+ in a few countries, employing an implementation science framework for generating learning.

PI: Lindsay Stark

COVID and Gender-Based Violence

This multi-site, mixed-methods study funded by UNICEF explores the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its corresponding movement restrictions on women and girls’ safety and well-being and their knowledge of and access to gender-based violence (GBV) services. The study employs online surveys and key informant interviews to (1) understand how the pandemic has impacted GBV service delivery, (2) assess challenges providers have faced in reaching especially marginalized and vulnerable women and girls, and (3) identify innovative and sustainable solutions for delivering GBV services during future pandemics. The study focuses on women and girls in humanitarian, host-country, and high-violence settings. Current sites include Italy, Guatemala, Brazil, Zimbabwe, and Brazil.

PI: Lindsay Stark
Co-I: Ilana Seff

Journey of Life Psychological Support Intervention

This partnership with Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) Uganda investigates the effectiveness and implementation of the Journey of Life (JoL) program in Kiryandongo refugee settlement, Uganda with funding from USAID. JoL addresses the social ecologies of children and adolescents by working with caregivers, educators, and community members to understand the importance of their involvement in the protection of children. Preventive and curative measures for improving community mental health and psychosocial outcomes include bolstering coping skills, meaning-making, social functioning, and building social capital.

PI: Lindsay Stark

Intervening in Child Neglect: A Microsimulation Evaluation Model of Usual Care

Principal Investigators: Melissa Jonson-Reid, PhD, Funder
Administration of Children and Families, USDDHS (90 CA1832)

Child Maltreatment Postdoctoral Training Institute 

This five-year intensive summer research institute is designed to prepare a new cadre of skilled investigators dedicated to engaging in child abuse and neglect research. To learn more, click here.

SAGE Project

Social Workers Advancing through Grounded Education (SAGE): Building Capacity for Mental and Behavioral Health in Indian Country

The SAGE project recruited, trained, and financially supported Native and non-Native students as they complete 360 hours of their concentration practica.

Implementation of Cognitive Processing Therapy in Rape Crisis Centers

This project used a randomized controlled trial to assess feasibility and effectiveness of a learning-collaborative as an implementation strategy to advance use of CPT for treating PTSD in 15 Texas Rape Crisis Centers.

Buffering Toxic Stress

Co-Investigators: John Constantino, F. Brett Drake

Collaborating Agencies:

Youth in Need Early Head Start
Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine, Division of Child Psychiatry
Washington University in St. Louis, Brown School of Social Work, Center of Violence and Injury Prevention, FUNDER
U.S. Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

Enhancing System Response to Sexually Abused Children

Principal Investigators: John Constantino, Melissa Jonson-Reid

Family Resource Center Prevention Evaluation

In collaboration with In collaboration with St. Louis-based Family Resource Center, this evaluation will examine the effectiveness of integrating Parent Child Interaction Training into the community-based agency’s service offerings. For more information, please click here.

Violence Prevention for Adolescent Girls with Prior Maltreatment – GAIN (Girls Aspiring toward Independence)

This project will evaluate the impact of a CBITS-adapted program, GAIN, to prevent youth violence and intimate partner violence among girls who have experienced prior child maltreatment. For more information, please click here.

Adapting the “Safe N’ Sound” Injury Prevention Program 

Safe N’ Sound is a computer-based program developed by our team that delivers tailored information to parents of children ages 0-4 about the specific injury prevention practices they can adopt in order to make their home and car safer for their child. For more information, please click here.

​Veterans, Trauma, and Battering Behavior 

Domestic violence rates among combat veterans with PTSD are higher than the general population. Using community-based system dynamics, prevention strategies are developed to address this. For more information, please click ​here.

Violence Surveillance Database Project 

This project will create a web-based database of current violence surveillance and service use data available for agencies to access to help with program development, evaluation, and policy making. For more information, please click here.

Moving Parent Training 

This project looks at how child welfare case managers currently interact with parents and caregivers around issues of behavior management, and the response and receptivity to parent training concepts. For more information, please click here.

Profiling Risk and Need for School-based Suicide Prevention  

This project creates a profile of youth at risk for suicide attempt or ideation using a Latent Class Analysis of suicide risk factors, such as depressive symptoms and substance abuse. For more information, please click here.

​Assessing Receptivity to and Use of Evidence-Based Treatments in Rape Crisis Centers 

Nationally, so little is known about the treatment of survivors who are victims of violence that describing and evaluating the effectiveness of current services is among the most important areas of research on violence against women. For more information, please click ​here.

Understanding the Trauma Treatment Needs of Justice-Involved Women 

Without appropriate interventions and the supports needed, justice-involved women and their children are at risk for poor outcomes. For more information, please click here.

Yellow Ribbon Re-integration Program 

This project evaluates the potential of the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program as a platform for identifying the mental health and associated reintegration service needs of soldiers and their families. For more information, please click here.

​Suicidal Behaviors Among Dominican Youth 

This study sheds light on the socio-cultural factors related to suicidal behaviors among Dominican Republic youth and how they compare to their Dominican counterparts in New York City.  For more information, please click ​here.

Translational Research on Child Neglect Consortium 

This annual meeting explores cross-sector service use of neglected children and their families and discusses implications for evidence-based practice and policy. For more information, please click here.

Early Childhood Connections 

This project aims to improve developmental outcomes for young children served by the Missouri Children’s Division. For more information, please click here.

​Engaging Fathers in Positive Parenting 

This project will develop new approaches to engage fathers in Triple P, an evidence-based parenting intervention particularly well-suited to vulnerable populations. For more information, please click ​here.

​Developing Empirical Childhood Injury Prevention Program Adoption Models and Dissemination Strategies  

The goal of this project is to identify factors that influence the adoption of an evidence-based injury prevention programming by children’s hospitals in the United States. For more information, please click ​here.

Preventing conduct disorder among children in the child welfare system 

Children within the child welfare system are at an unacceptably high risk for serious disruptive behavior problems such as conduct disorder.  For more information, please click here.

​Promoting Safe Environments and Parenting Practices with Home Visitation Programs   

The purpose of this project is to adapt and integrate an evidence-based injury prevention program, Safe N’ Sound, into established home visitation models, using the home visitation agency of Nurses for Newborns as a pilot. For more information, please click here. 

​Needs assessment for victims of sexual assault who have developmental disabilities 

This 12-month study will assess the incidence of sexual assault amongst individuals with developmental disabilities. For more information, please click ​here.

Neural Network Model 

Risk-based assessment/intervention strategies can be applied within treatment-focused child welfare systems to prevent recurrent maltreatment. For more information, please click here.

Building Careers for Research in Child Maltreatment and Intimate Partner Violence: Early Career Scholar Interdisciplinary Training Program 

Child maltreatment (CM) and intimate partner violence (IPV) are serious social and public health problems that have high prevalence rates and equally high needs for interdisciplinary research. For more information, please click here.

​Stakeholders Perspectives on Improving Access to VHA’s Suicide Prevention Services (IA-SPS) 

A one-year Department of Veterans Affairs project seeks to elicit stakeholder perspectives on the barriers to Veterans accessing suicide prevention services in their local communities. For more information, please click here.

Reducing Early Childhood Injuries at Home and in Motor Vehicles 

The project focuses on reducing pediatric injuries by taking injury prevention education into the homes of young children. For more information, please click here.

Design Options for Understanding Child Maltreatment Incidence

The major purpose of the project is to develop design options for a study or set of studies to improve the accurate and ongoing surveillance of the incidence of child abuse and neglect and related risk and protective factors. For more information, please click here.

Stressful Social Networks and PTSD as Mediators of Child Abuse and Health Outcomes in Patients with Chronic Pain ​

This study is the first large, longitudinal study of low-income individuals to determine predictors and pathways to early adult violence. For more information, please click here.

Young Adult Violence – Modifiable Predictors and Pathways ​

This study is the first large, longitudinal study of low-income individuals to determine predictors and pathways to early adult violence. For more information, please click here.​

​Teen pregnancy prevention for youth in foster care​ 

This funded project provides a medical home and pregnancy prevention to youth ages 12 to 17 entering foster care in the metropolitan region. For more information, please click ​here.

​Enhancing Nurse Home Visiting to Address Vulnerabilities and Prevent Maltreatment ​ 

In collaboration with Nurses for Newborns, this study addresses issues of maternal and child well-being with significant public health relevance, specifically child abuse and injury prevention, and reducing post-partum maternal depression and stress. For more information, please click ​here.