TABLE 3.
Literature summary of critical findings among 24 studies from 2008 to 2023 (Worldwide publications, from date of inception to May 2023).
| No. | Authors (Year) | Types of abuse | Study design | Intervention outcome | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical safety outcomes | Psychological outcomes | Technology outcomes | ||||
| 1 | Bacchus, et al (2016) | IPV | Qualitative Interviews | N/A | N/A | “The computer tablet viewed as a safe and confidential way for DV women to disclose their experiences; tablet helped to establish trust and rapport between victim and providers; The technology helped reduce the anticipated stigma associated with disclosing abuse.” “Both methods of screening were positively influenced by factors like having established trust and rapport, and good interpersonal communication.” |
| 2 | Bloom, et al (2014) | IPV | Feasibility | Danger assessment score indicated severe danger in the abusive relationship. (M = 16.1) | N/A | The average time to completion was 10.3 days (SD = 16.3 days, range = 0–68 days), with rural women taking an average of 2.2 days longer than urban women (11.6 vs. 9.4 days, respectively). A higher percentage of rural women (63.2%) reported using a home computer compared with their urban counterparts (48.4%). A lower percentage of rural women used a computer at a friend’s or family member’s house (25.3% vs. 34.3, respectively) 20% of e-mail contacts from potential participants originated from a mobile device. 19.5% of the women completed the baseline session from a mobile device. |
| 3 | Blumling, et al (2018) | IPV | Cross-sectional study | N/A | N/A | The simulation technology demonstrated significant increase in confidence (p < 0.001), and knowledge (p < 0.001). |
| 4 | Choo, et al (2016) | IPV | RCT | Past month drug use, the occurrence of psychological, physical, and sexual violence. | N/A | The web-based intervention plus telephone is highly feasible in the emergency care setting; High acceptability, satisfaction, and usability in the web-based intervention evaluation Mean System Usability Scale (SUS) for the BSAFER Web program was 84 (95% CI 78–89) of 100; mean Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) was 28 (95% CI 26–29) of 32. |
| 5 | Constantino, et al (2015) | IPV | Sequential, transformative mixed-methods design | N/A | Significant improvement in anxiety (p = 0.01), depression (p < 0.001) and social support (p < 0.001) in the pre-test score and post-test score for each of the groups; Online intervention may lessen social risks and inhibitions, enhances sharing of unwelcome thoughts and painful feelings. | |
| 6 | Eden, et al (2015) | IPV | RCT | Intervention-group women had a greater reduction in total decisional conflict, uncertainty and feeling unsupported than control participants (p < 0.05). | N/A | N/A |
| 7 | Ejaz, et al (2017) | Elder abuse | Feasibility study | N/A | N/A | Significant improvement in knowledge for abuse background and report system (67%); The module “Screening of abuse” is the weakest module as it lacks illustrations relating to various types of self-neglect (environmental, health-related, and behavioral) |
| 8 | Glass, et al (2017) | IPV | RCT community-based | Women who left the abuser had higher baseline risk (p =0.003); they found the safety behaviors more helpful (p = 0.037) and experienced less decisional conflict (p = 0.042). | Women in intervention group had greater reductions in psychological IPV (p = 0.001) and sexual IPV (p = 0.001). | N/A |
| 9 | Goldman, et al (2019) | Child abuse | Feasibility | N/A | N/A | Knowledge increased significantly in smartphone application intervention group; the application reported as easy to use (59%), useful (63.9%) and preferred to obtain information than traditional printed materials (85%). |
| 10 | Gur, et al (2016) | IPV DV |
Feasibility | N/A | N/A | The GPS in DV is important in providing enhanced supervision (96%), keeping victim safer (94%), allowing defendants to live in the community while awaiting trial (86%), receiving satisfaction monitoring information and supervising their clients easier for officers (51%); GPS technology facilitated asking’ hard questions and help guiding client’s decision making (92%). |
| 11. | Harris, et al (2009) | IPV | N/A | N/A | N/A | The overall quality of the online CME program was rated highly in knowledge improvement (M = 4.52/5); Direct email was the most effective, cost efficient, and common strategy of online intervention recruitment. |
| 12 | Hassija, et al (2010) | DV | N/A | N/A | Participants exhibited large reductions on PTSD severity checklist (M = 32.20, SD = 12.68, d = 1.17). And depressive symptoms (M = 13.07, SD = 9.07, d = 1.24); Clients’ reports of satisfaction with the provision of psychological services via videoconferencing (M = 52.93, SD = 2.43). | Videoconferencing is effective in providing specialized, evidence-based psychological services to rural domestic violence and sexual assault populations. |
| 13 | Ibarra, et al (2014) | DV | Qualitative interview/comparative analysis | N/A | N/A | The GPS is useful in tracking location, building trustful relationship, facilitating the interviews, and being a source of solace against the threat of false accusation. |
| 14 | Jabaley, et al (2011) | Child abuse | N/A | Observation System: The Home Accident Prevention Inventory-Revised (HAPI-R) demonstrated significant decrease in hazards among families (Range: 74%–97%); Parents considered their homes safer and expressed confidence in recognizing and securing hazards. |
N/A | Communication via iPhone on logistical questions or reminders demonstrated good results; 86% Reported with favorable reactions to the iPhone texting communication. |
| 15 | Lefever, et al (2008) | Child Abuse | Longitudinal study | Higher parenting essentials associated with higher knowledge of child development, higher scores on the parenting styles measure, lower child abuse potential, and lower scores on the history of neglect measure. | N/A | Cell phone offers greater level of mobility and convenience at a lower cost than landline phones; reported as useful in intervening with mothers at risk of suboptimal parenting and child neglect. |
| 16 | MacLeod, et al (2009) | Child abuse | N/A | N/A | Rankings of practitioners’ skills and the telemedicine consultation effectiveness were high, with 82% of cases. | Telemedicine consultations showed good scores in the use of the multimethod examination technique and the use of adjunct techniques. The mean duration of the consultations was 71 min (range: 25–210 min). The consultations resulted in changes in interview methods (47%), the use of the multimethod examination technique (86%), and the use of adjunct techniques (40%). There were 9 acute sexual assault telemedicine consults that resulted in changes to the collection of forensic evidence (89%). Rankings of practitioners’ skills and the telemedicine consult effectiveness were high, with 82% of cases scoring ≥5 on a 7-point Likert scale. |
| 17 | McAndrew, et al (2014) | IPV | Quasi-experimental | N/A | N/A | “The online tutorial was effective in increasing the participants’ perceived preparation, knowledge, and self-efficacy and decreasing perceptions of provider constraints in managing victims of IPV.” |
| 18 | Paranal, et al (2012) | Child abuse | Non-equivalent group design | N/A | N/A | Individual participants rated the training content (9.13) and found the training format interesting (8.88), useful (8.9) and ease of use above neutral (6.4). 80% of the participants viewed all the video clips. Organization perceived online training as easy to administer to staff (Mean:7.6), prefer online training (Mean:7.25); Effective in teaching adults about child abuse (Mean:8.97). |
| 19 | Rothman, et al (2009) | IPV | N/A | N/A | N/A | Most shelter residents have email accounts (80%), prefer using email as communication and keep in touch with the advocates; 88% reported as a safe method. |
| 20 | Sargent, et al (2016) | DV | RCT | N/A | Knowledge about DV consequences, self-efficacy, and how to help children exposed to DV reported as significant improvement in intervention group. | Online program is effective to reach large numbers of people inexpensively and quickly raise public awareness of DV effectively, offer a cost-effective way and allow participants to move through the program at their own pace. |
| 21 | Thraen, et al (2008) | Child abuse | Mixed methods | N/A | N/A | 85% Participants used desktop PCs on a regular basis; reported the easiness to save and upload images from Web browser (81%); able to download and install plug-ins (72%); E-mail used for assessing child maltreatment (55%). |
| 22 | Abujarad, et al 2021 |
Elder abuse | Mixed methods | N/A | N/A | Overall scored the VOICES usability score of 86.6, while 93% participants indicated the willingness to recommend digital VOICES tool to others and 100% indicated full understanding of health information and content. |
| 23 | Agu, et al 2020 |
IPV | Mixed methods | N/A | N/A | From baseline to final survey, participants reported accurate knowledge (change: 2.3%–34.8%), confidence (change: 31.8%–37.9%), system awareness (change: 22.7%–53.5%), and increased IPV screening rate (change: 88.0%–91.0%) and referrals (change: 43.0%–100.0%). |
| 24 | Bagwell-Gray, et al 2021 |
IPV | Qualitative interview | N/A | N/A | By understanding IPV’s culture specific risks and protective factors, the web-based safety app called myPlan (renamed ourCircle) can better provide IPV Native American women with culturally specific safety priorities and security strategies. |
Note: DV, domestic violence; IPV, intimate partner violence; M, mean; RCT, randomized controlled trial; SD, standard deviation; PTSD, Post-traumatic stress disorder.