The main focus of my research has been the examination of the long-term clinical implications of child maltreatment and violence against women. Primarily, I have explored this topic through a series of studies on the psychological sequelae of child sexual abuse, and child physical and emotional maltreatment. I have also been involved in the development of a number of clinical research tools for the measurement of psychological sequelae of child maltreatment: these include the Trauma Symptom Checklist (TSC33/40; Briere & Runtz, 1989), a dissociation scale to supplement the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (Briere & Runtz, 1990); scales for the assessment of psychological and physical maltreatment (Briere & Runtz, 1990); the Health Symptom Checklist (HSC; Runtz, 2002); and the Reproductive Health Questionnaire (RHQ; Eadie & Runtz, 2008). In addition I have contributed to the validation of the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI; Briere, 1995) and its revision (TSI-2; Briere, 2012; Godbout, Hodges, Briere, & Runtz, 2016), the Inventory of Altered Self Capacities (IASC; Briere, 2000; Briere & Runtz, 2002), the Detailed Assessment of Posttraumatic Stress (DAPS; Briere, 2001), the Multiscale Dissociation Inventory (MDI; Briere, 2002; Briere, Weathers, & Runtz, 2005), and the Psychological Maltreatment Review (PMR; Briere, Godbout, & Runtz, 2012). Most recently, we published the Disorganized Response Scale, which is a proxy measure of disorganized attachment in adults (Briere, Runtz, Eadie, Bigras, & Godbout, 2018).
In recent studies, I have been looking at variables which mediate abuse-related trauma (e.g., social support, coping, attachment, current life stress, dissociation, self-capacities, interpersonal difficulties). Another focus of my research has been the exploration of the physical health implications of various forms of violence in women’s lives (e.g., child sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, witnessing parental violence, adult sexual and physical assault). Specifically, I have been looking at reproductive and sexual health in addition to general physical health concerns, and health service utilization among victimized women. Other current areas of study (some of which are being conducted with my graduate students) include: adult attachment, perceptions of sexual harassment, women’s sexuality and sexual health, relationship functioning, psychological maltreatment in childhood, teen dating violence, PTSD, sexual revictimization and sexual risk-taking behaviors, meaning-making following trauma, disengaged parenting, and the link between child maltreatment and borderline personality-related symptoms. Future directions include couple adjustment and intimate partner violence; women’s sexual health and satisfaction following sexual victimization; and an examination of social adversity and microtrauma experiences among marginalized individuals.
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