An Exploratory Study Using Cortisol to Describe the Response of Incarcerated Women IPV Survivors to MAMBRA Intervention

الملخص EN

Objective.

To determine if incarcerated women survivors of IPV had a physiological response to the Music and Account-Making for Behavioral-Related Adaptation (MAMBRA) intervention, as measured by cortisol levels.

Methods.

A single-group repeated measures designed exploratory study was used to pilot-test MAMBRA.

A convenience sample ( n = 33 ) was recruited in a Midwestern women’s correctional facility.

Serving as their own control, participants provided demographics and pre-/post-MAMBRA salivary samples while attending four MAMBRA sessions.

Baseline data were compared to participants’ data collected over the remaining 3 MAMBRA sessions.

Data were analyzed with descriptive and univariate statistics with an alpha of .05 and post-hoc power of .65.

Results.

Participants were predominantly White (52%), single (80%), and early middle-aged ( x - A G E = 38.7 ± 9.4 ), with a history of physical/nonphysical spousal abuse.

Using a subsample ( n = 26 ), salivary cortisol decreased between the pre-/post-MAMBRA over the sessions ( F ( 3,75 ) = 4.59 , p < .

01 ).

Conclusion.

Participants had a physiological response to the MAMBRA intervention as evidenced by the decreased cortisol between the pre-/post-MAMBRA.

This is the first step in examining MAMBRA’s clinical utility as an intervention for female IPV survivors.

Future longitudinal studies will examine MAMBRA’s effectiveness given this change in cortisol.