Year of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Clinical Psychology

Department or School/College

Psychology

Committee Chair

Julie Olomi, Ph.D.

Committee Co-chair

Laura Kirsch, Ph.D.

Commitee Members

Julie Olomi, Ph.D., Laura Kirsch, Ph.D., Jonathan Graham, Ph.D., Rebecca Calabrese, MSW

Keywords

Strangulation, Intimate Partner Violence, Police Records, Risk Assessment

Subject Categories

Community Psychology

Abstract

Strangulation is a profoundly damaging form of intimate partner violence (IPV) that poses a pervasive threat to survivors, such as intimate partner homicide (IPH). Because strangulation often leaves no external markings, it is notoriously difficult to identify but can have severe short- and long-term negative health outcomes. Strangulation is often a repeated occurrence in abusive relationships, which suggests there may be opportunities to intervene before a potential IPH by identifying specific risk factors related to strangulation. Through partnership with the Missoula Police Department (MPD), the present study identified distinct risk factor profiles associated with strangulation among 288 cases of IPV drawn from the following MPD secondary data: Lethality Screen (LS), Missoula Countywide Domestic Violence Supplemental Form, Missoula Countywide Strangulation Supplemental Form, and case reports. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was conducted using the 11-question Lethality Screen (LS) derived from the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) and identified three classes of cases: (1) low threat/high control (n = 90; 31.2%), (2) low threat/low control (n = 91; 31.6%), and (3) high threat/high control (n = 107; 37.2%). Having experienced strangulation was associated with Class 3 membership (n = 73; 66.4%), along with higher risk of future lethal violence based on the LS score (n = 107; 100%). High levels of missingness of risk factors outside of the LS items made parameter estimates less stable and interpretation difficult. However, Class 3 was significant for higher proportion of male suspects compared to Class 1 and Class 2 and higher proportion of separation status compared to Class 2, providing preliminary evidence that strangulation risk is not uniform, but part of a larger constellation of co-occurring risk factors. Additional research is warranted to understand patterns of missingness not at random (MNAR) to improve the stability of estimates and more precisely identify predictors of strangulation risk within IPV law enforcement records.

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© Copyright 2026 Hannah K. Christensen