The effect of solution-focused counseling on violence rate and quality of life of pregnant women at risk of domestic violence: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Domestic violence during pregnancy as one of the most common social problems and major challenges of health systems can affect the health of the mother and fetus. The study aimed to compare the two groups of intervention based on solution-focused counseling and control in terms of violence and quality of life amounts in women who had experienced domestic violence. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial on 90 pregnant women was blocked into two intervention groups (n = 45) and a control (n = 45). The intervention group received six counseling sessions with a solution-focused approach. Study tool included conflict tactics scale (CTS- 2) and short form health survey (SF-36). The tools were completed once before the intervention and again 6 weeks after the end of the counseling sessions by the participants of both groups. The P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 82/90 pregnant women were analyzed. The results showed that median and interquartile range (IQR) of physical, psychological and sexual violence significantly decreased in the intervention group than the control group (Ps = 0.001). Moreover, quality of life scores significantly improved in the intervention group compared to the control group (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Solution-focused counseling could be an effective approach to reduce the amount of violence and increase the quality of life in women exposed to domestic violence. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT2017040628352N4. Date of registration: August 20th 2017. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12884-021-03674-z.