NCT06670326

Imagery Rescripting for Pathological Affective Dependence and Intimate Partner Violence

Imagery Rescripting As a Treatment for Pathological Affective Dependence: Helping Victims Break Free from Abusive Relationships

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 18 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Amsterdam · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this multiple baseline case series study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Imagery Rescripting for Pathological Affective Dependence (PAD) in victims of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). The primary research questions are: Does Imagery Rescripting reduce PAD and/or commitment to the abusive relationship after separation? Does Imagery Rescripting also reduce traumatic symptoms? Does Imagery Rescripting improve general mental health, self-compassion, and resilience in IPV victims? Participants will undergo a waiting period of 5-9 weeks (to assess time effects without treatment), followed by 4 weekly preparation sessions, 12 weekly Imagery Rescripting sessions, and 1 month of post-treatment. Throughout the study, participants will rate the severity of PAD and relational commitment on a weekly basis. They will also complete more detailed questionnaires assessing mental health, traumatic symptoms, resilience, and self-compassion before each phase, at 1 month post-treatment, 3 months post-treatment, and during follow-ups at 6 and 12 months.

Detailed description

In this multiple baseline case series study, the effectiveness of Imagery Rescripting (ImRs) as a treatment for Pathological Affective Dependence (PAD) in victims of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) will be evaluated. Eighteen victims of IPV with PAD will be randomized to different waitlist lengths (5-9 weeks), after which they will enter a 4-session preparation phase (4 weeks), followed by 12 weekly sessions of ImRs. Follow-up assessments will take place at 4 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months post-treatment. The primary outcomes are: PAD severity, which will be assessed weekly using the Pathological Affective Dependence Scale. Relational commitment, measured using a validated scale. The hypothesis is that primary outcomes will show greater reductions during the treatment phase compared to the waitlist or preparation phases and will either stabilize or show further improvement post-treatment. Similarly, secondary outcomes such as general mental health (measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9), resilience (assessed with the The Brief Resilience Scale (RSb), and self-compassion (assessed with the Self-compassion Scale short (SCs) are expected to show the most significant improvements from pre- to post-treatment, with minimal changes during baseline, preparation, and post-treatment phases. The results will be analyzed using multilevel analysis, pooling the effects across individual cases. In addition, participants will be interviewed 4 weeks post-treatment to gather qualitative feedback on their experiences with the treatment.

Conditions

• Pathological Affective Dependence

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Imagery Rescripting	Experimental: Baseline-Preparation-Imagery Rescripting-Post Treatment Each participant follows this sequence: (1) 5-9 weeks waitlist during which no treatment is offered; (2) 4 weekly preparatory sessions. During these sessions the rationale of ImRs will be explained in more detail and a list of painful (childhood) memories to be addressed with ImRs is to be compiled, based on any further input from the patient; and a case conceptualization is made; (3) 12 sessions (45-60 minutes) of ImRs will be offered to participating patients. The treatment for PAD will be based upon the protocol described by Arntz \& Weertman (1999); (4) After end of active treatment (ImRs) 4 weeks follow during which only weekly assessments are done.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-02-01
• Primary completion: 2025-05-01
• Completion: 2026-02-01
• First posted: 2024-11-01
• Last updated: 2024-11-01

Locations

3 sites across 2 countries: Italy, Netherlands