Comparing sexual minority and heterosexual women’s intimate partner violence treatment outcomes: Secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial.

Up to 50% of women experience lifetime intimate partner violence (IPV), with even higher rates among sexual minority women. However, sexual minority women are an understudied population, especially regarding psychosocial interventions for IPV experiences. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial to provide an initial, exploratory examination of whether there were differences in treatment outcomes, satisfaction, and engagement with treatment based on sexual orientation. Sixty women veterans (28% sexual minority; n = 17) were randomly assigned to recovering from IPV through strengths and empowerment (RISE), a transdiagnostic psychosocial intervention, or enhanced care as usual. Treatment outcomes in the trial included self-efficacy, empowerment, valued living, and patient activation. There were no significant differences between sexual minority and heterosexual women for most treatment outcomes across treatment conditions. However, sexual minority women who received RISE had higher levels of empowerment and self-efficacy across time compared with sexual minority women who received enhanced care as usual. There were no differences in satisfaction with treatment or the number of sessions completed (engagement) between sexual minority and heterosexual women. These findings suggest that RISE may be beneficial for improving empowerment and self-efficacy among sexual minority women. However, given that this was an initial evaluation with a small sample of sexual minority women, additional research with larger samples is needed to continue to examine the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for IPV experiences among sexual minority women. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).