Impacts of an Online Intervention for Korean Faith Leaders on Community Members' Domestic Violence Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors

Background and Purpose: Domestic violence (DV) against Asian immigrant women remains severe yet understudied. Given the high rate of religious affiliation among Korean Americans, churches and faith leaders can play an essential role in protecting survivors and preventing DV in the community. This study aims to evaluate the impact of an online intervention for Korean American faith leaders to increase community members’ exposure to information about DV, knowledge about DV, and intention to intervene in others’ DV cases, as well as reducing acceptance of DV. We hypothesize that after the online intervention, a significant increase in exposure to DV-related information, knowledge about DV, and intention to intervene in others’ DV cases, as well as a reduction in acceptance of DV, will be observed only among Korean American community members, with no significant changes among other Asian Americans.

Methods: A total of 98 Korean American faith leaders in the metro Chicago and Washington D.C. areas completed an online intervention between December 2022 and May 2023. The intervention consists of four virtual case simulation modules that help increase faith leaders’ DV prevention and intervention behaviors. We collected two waves of data among 728 Asian American community members before (May to November 2022) and after (June to October 2023) Korean American faith leaders’ completion of the intervention. Participants completed either a paper-and-pencil or online survey. The outcome variables were participants’ exposure to information about DV, with a higher score suggesting more frequent exposure; participants’ attitudes toward DV, with a higher score indicating more acceptance of DV; knowledge about DV; intention to intervene when DV occurs; and frequencies of having a discussion about DV with others. Independent samples t-tests were employed to compare the outcome means across waves by ethnicity (Korean vs. non-Korean).

Results: The mean age of the participants was 47 years, and 70% were female. About 90% of the sample were not born in the U.S., and nearly 56% self-identified as Korean ethnicity. About 45% of participants had a religious affiliation. Korean participants' mean exposure score to DV information (t = -3.93, p < .001) was significantly higher at Wave 2 than at Wave 1. Additionally, their knowledge about DV (t = -2.55, p < .01), intention to intervene when DV occurs (t = -2.19, p < .05), and frequencies of discussing DV with others (t = -2.68, p < .01) were significantly higher at Wave 2 than at Wave 1. Non-Korean participants only reported a higher mean on their attitudes accepting DV (t = -1.87, p < .05) at Wave 2 than at Wave 1.

Conclusions and Implications: Consistent with our hypothesis, Korean participants reported more exposure to information about DV after their faith leaders completed the online training. Additionally, their knowledge about DV, intention to intervene, and frequency of discussing DV increased after the intervention. These findings underscore the fundamental role of faith leaders in promoting awareness about DV and preventing it in Asian American communities, offering an effective community-based strategy to protect and support survivors.