A researcher from New Haven, Conn.-based Women's Health Research at Yale plans to develop a gamified app targeted toward victims of intimate partner violence.
Trace Kershaw, PhD, a social and behavioral sciences professor at the Yale School of Public Health, aims to create a family-based behavioral intervention that reduces the likelihood of victims of intimate partner violence engaging in high-risk behaviors, such as substance abuse. Those who experience abuse often face poor physical and mental health outcomes, according to Dr. Kershaw.
"Female adolescents affected by violence in their homes are particularly vulnerable to unwittingly accepting a negative cycle that can have widespread influence on the health and well-being of women across generations," Dr. Kershaw said. "We are focusing on mothers and daughters because it is essential to end this cycle."
For the project, Dr. Kershaw and his doctoral student Tiara Willie will develop an intervention based on interactive video graphic novellas. In the app-based graphic novella, a participant will be able to direct their character's decisions. The goal is to help participants fully grasp the positive and negative consequences of complex social and behavioral choices, according to Dr. Kershaw.
Dr. Kershaw and Ms. Willie will establish a community advisory board to oversee the project, comprised of two intimate partner violence researchers, two adolescents and mothers who have experienced intimate partner violence and two social workers. They will also engage support from experts in creative writing and graphic novellas.
"By working with mothers and daughters at the same time, we hope to strengthen their relationship and their ability to respond to the negative effects of violence," Dr. Kershaw said.