# PTSD, Negative and Positive Emotion Dysfunction and Substance USE in IPV Victims

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND · 2020 · $135,029

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 IPV is a pervasive and serious public health issue, affecting nearly one in three women nationally in
their lifetime. IPV-exposed women have rates of drug and alcohol misuse that are 2–7 times higher than
women nationally. As many as 70% are tobacco smokers. [IPV-exposed women have sex with more risky
partners, including those who are HIV-positive, IV drug users, and nonmomgomous, and are more likely to
engage in unprotected sex and trade sex, and report more sex partners.] PTSD is highly prevalent among
IPV-exposed women (31 to 84%), and IPV-related PTSD symptoms are positively associated with drug,
alcohol, and tobacco use and HIV/sexual risk. Despite the clear clinical relevance of PTSD in this
population, particularly with regard to substance use and risky sex, no studies have explicated mechanisms
that may account for relations between PTSD symptoms and substance use and HIV/sexual risk behaviors
among IPV-exposed women. Emotion dysfunction has been identified as a key mechanism in the pathogenesis
of a wide range of psychological difficulties and maladaptive behaviors, including PTSD, substance use, 
and HIV/sexual risk. Yet, research on mechanisms underlying these health outcomes generally, and the
potential mechanism of emotion dysfunction in particular, is absent in this population. IPV-exposed women
constitute a unique population distinct from other trauma-exposed populations. IPV is chronic; women are
recurrently victimized by their partners and repeatedly exposed to potentially traumatic stimuli in their
environment. This unique context poses increased risk for PTSD symptoms, emotion dysfunction,
substance use, and HIV/sexual risk. Existing intervention models for treating PTSD and co-occurring
substance use and/or risky sex (e.g., Seeking Safety, Project Connect) were not developed for women who
remain in unsafe situations, are seldom community-based, and do not have an integrated focus on IPV, PTSD,
substance use, and HIV/sexual risk. Consistent with current initiatives (e.g., NIH strategic plans), identifying
mechanistic processes, across multiple systems (i.e., physiological and behavioral), underlying the relations
among PTSD, substance use, and HIV/sexual risk in this population is a critical first step in developing
targeted interventions that are safe for IPV-exposed women in the community. The proposed study
addresses such critical gaps in the research with an innovative, context-specific, multi-method approach
among 150 women currently experiencing IPV and using substances. Findings will [identify relations among
physical, sexual, and psychological IPV and emotion dysfunction;] explicate the role of emotion dysfunction in
PTSD symptoms and risk-taking propensity in the lab and substance use and HIV/sexual risk in the real-world;
and test the convergent validity of lab and real-world data. The role of emotion dysfunction in PTSD symptoms
and risk-taking propensity will be measured in the lab via a no...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9920685
- **Project number:** 5K23DA039327-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
- **Principal Investigator:** Nicole Holland Weiss
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $135,029
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9920685

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9920685, PTSD, Negative and Positive Emotion Dysfunction and Substance USE in IPV Victims (5K23DA039327-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9920685. Licensed CC0.

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