Targeted Neighborhood Sampling: A New Approachfor Recruiting Abusive Couples

摘要

We conducted two studies to test the utility of anew strategy for recruiting couples experiencing intimatepartner violence. This new strategy, Targeted NeighborhoodSampling, involves utilizing police reports of family fightcalls to target particular areas within a city for recruitmentefforts. Study I compared the efficacy of using this methodto recruit a random versus a convenience sample. Resultsdemonstrated that Targeted Neighborhood Sampling wasmost effective when recruiting a convenience sample ofparticipants who responded to flyers left at their residences.Study II used a convenience sample and replicated thefindings from Study I. Across the two studies, 40.4% ofthose who called after receiving a flyer experienced male-to-female partner violence within the past year. In addition,we combined data across studies and correlated types ofviolence the couples experienced with variables commonlyassociated with abuse. Psychological aggression, physicalassault, and injury were all positively associated withreports of demand-withdrawal and mutual avoidance duringconflict, as well as depression and symptoms of posttraumatic disorder syndrome. Sexual coercion was associ-ated with drug abuse. These results demonstrate the utilityand validity of Targeted Neighborhood Sampling.