Abstract: Changing Attitudes Toward Pregnant and Postpartum People Experiencing IPV and Substance Use: A Pre–Post Evaluation Study (Society for Social Work and Research 31st Annual Conference)

Schedule:

Thursday, January 21, 2027

Golden Gate 7 (Hilton San Francisco Union Square)

* noted as presenting author

Catherine Poehling, DSW, MSW, MS, LCSW-BACS (LA), LCSW (MS), Assistant Professor, University of Southern Mississippi, MS

Saijun Zhang, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Mississippi, University, MS

Chinedu Chukwu, Doctoral Candidate, University of Southern Mississippi

Xiaoshan Gordy, Associate Professor, University of Mississippi Medical Center

Jerome Kolbo, PhD, Professor, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS

Lei Zhang, PhD, Professor, University of Mississippi Medical Center

Background and Purpose

Intimate partner violence includes physical violence, sexual coercion, emotional abuse, economic manipulation, and stalking to gain power and control. Victim blaming occurs when the responsibility of the abuse is shifted from the perpetrator to the victim/survivor. Mississippi has the highest prevalence of physical IPV before pregnancy at 5.6%, and the second highest prevalence during pregnancy at 4.1% (Kapaya et al, 2019).

Methods

The Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) among Mississippi's Moms: Initiative to Prevent and Treat (SIMM Initiative) launched an interdisciplinary training to enhance provider capacity to respond to IPV and SUD during pregnancy and postpartum. Multidisciplinary professionals in Mississippi including physicians, nurses, and social workers were invited to complete a three hour asynchronous training. Researchers collected pre–posttest evaluations using the Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence (PREMIS) (Short et al., 2006), modified to capture information on IPV and SUD. Participants were provided free three hour continuing education credits for completing the training.

Results

Researchers analyzed the opinions/attitudes subscale in a matched pre-post subset (n = 26). Preparedness to respond to IPV significantly increased (MΔ = +1.86, p < .0001), but overall attitudes about IPV did not significantly change (MΔ = +0.08, p = .4532). In contrast, SUD attitudes significantly improved (MΔ = +0.43, p < .0001) alongside preparedness gains. A linear mixed-effects model was conducted to examine whether prior IPV training moderated changes in attitude scores from pre- to posttest. The interaction between time and prior training was not statistically significant, F(1, 23) = 3.51, p = .074. This indicates that there was no strong evidence that improvement in attitude scores differed between participants with and without prior training.

Conclusions and Implications

This brief training ameliorated the presence of stigma towards SUD in participants, but not stigma against IPV. Attitudes towards IPV among health care professionals may be entrenched and influenced by a culture of misogyny. Future research is needed to evaluate the mechanisms that create attitude change.Policy action targeted on addressing bias in healthcare providers and systems-level support for IPV response may help improve access and quality of care for IPV victims and survivors.