Coercive control (CC) represents a significant proportion of intimate partner violence (IPV) cases in the UK and globally. While theoretical models on CC exist, none so far includes a psychological perspective. As cognitive behavioural theory (CBT) has a robust evidence base as an IPV intervention for women survivors, it can also be used in the development of a psychological model for CC, from the perspective of survivors. Such a model may have utility as a psychotherapeutic formulation tool and providing training on psychological aspects and impact of CC to other professionals involved in survivors’ care.

Fourteen women with self-identified experience of CC were screened and interviewed. Constructivist grounded theory was used to analyse the interviews.

Six theoretical codes were developed: vulnerability factors (difficult childhood experiences, negative previous romantic relationships, and low self-esteem), cognitions (thoughts about worthlessness, isolation, being deserving of the abuse, confusion, hope, being treated unfairly, and suicidal ideation), affect (shame, fear, sadness, and anger), maintaining factors (perceived consequences of leaving, financial situation, low self-esteem, and social norms), behaviours (unhelpful coping strategies of dissociation, subjugation, avoidance, and substance misuse, and protective factors were spending time with loved ones, physical activity, and committing to career and interests), and impact (poor physical health, depression, anxiety, trauma, financial difficulties, and chronic mistrust).

The results of this study constitute a preliminary CBT model of women survivors’ experiences of CC. Further research is required to test and further develop the model, especially the vulnerability factors and mental health implications of experiencing CC.

1. (1) To provide information that supports the need for healthcare professionals to be aware of and receive training on coercive control.

2. (2) To provide insight into women survivors’ experiences of coercive control within heterosexual relationships.

3. (3) To provide guidance on how psychological professionals can work with women survivors of coercive control to formulate their experiences and plan interventions.

Despite increasing awareness and understanding of children’s victimisation through experiences of domestic violence (EDV), little attention has been given to the associated health outcomes.

Examine associations between four different forms of childhood EDV (physical violence, threats of harm, property damage and intimidation or control) and four mental disorders and six health risk behaviours.

Data were drawn from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study. Associations were examined using survey-weighted logistic regression models. Estimates were calculated adjusting for each other form of EDV, as well as other types of child maltreatment and socio-economic factors. Each model was stratified for men and women.

All mental disorders and health risk behaviours were more common among those with any childhood EDV compared to those without. Intimidation or control and damage to property or pets independently predicted most mental disorders and health risk behaviours. The strongest association was found between intimidation or control and post-traumatic stress disorder (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.30, 95% CI 1.77–2.98) and generalised anxiety disorder (aOR 1.65, 95% CI 1.36–1.99), and damage to property or pets and severe alcohol use disorder (aOR 1.76, 95% CI 1.36–2.27).

Childhood EDV characterised by intimidation or control and property damage or harm to pets significantly increases the risk of mental disorders and health risk behaviours in adulthood. Urgent investment is needed in child-centred and trauma- and family-violence-informed interventions that support children’s recovery and stronger legal protections to prevent children from being weaponised in post-separation coercive control.

Acid attacks, a harrowing form of violence often involving intimate partners, are prevalent in South and South-East Asia and are on the rise in the global north. There are major psychosocial and mental health sequelae for survivors and their families.

This ethnographic study, set in Cambodia, aims to identify the cultural and emotional dynamics surrounding acid attacks. The objectives are to define a taxonomy of acid attacks through the identification of the patterns of attack in intimate relations, and to explore the subjective experience of the informants to elucidate the cultural context of the complex emotions of jealousy and envy.

Over 2 decades, ethnographic fieldwork was conducted with 87 survivors and their families and perpetrators in rural and urban Cambodia. Qualitative analysis was used to identify the taxa and enable a cultural understanding of the attacks.

Three taxa were identified. (a) The most prevalent pattern (n = 56) was driven by romantic jealousy, fuelled by perceived infidelity in the context of an explicit ‘love triangle’ involving a married couple and a rival. (b) The second was intimate partner violence (n = 18), for example, a possessive husband maiming his wife after she had fled the coercive control of an abusive marriage. And (c) the last involved attacks within the community (n = 13), perpetrated acts of envy and vengefulness often arising from disputes and pointing at dysfunctional conflict resolution mechanisms.

Acid attacks are a grotesque example of direct violence that leads to severe mental health consequences, including suicidal ideation. The taxa reveal, ‘inside out’, the cultural construction of the causes and consequences of attacks while demonstrating the cultural architecture of envy and romantic jealousy. This study is relevant to transcultural psychiatry and global health, with implications for culturally responsive psychiatric intervention informed by the intrapsychic, interpersonal and structural dimensions of violence.