Investigating the patterns of Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse among UK military veterans

Award value

The King's Centre for Military Health Research at King’s College London, and Combat Stress are seeking a PhD candidate for a collaborative studentship funded by the London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership/Economic Social Research Council.

Background

Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse (IPVA) is a global public health problem with significant physical and mental health consequences for those affected as well as financial implications for society. The majority of IPVA research is unidirectional, focusing on IPVA use (i.e., perpetration) or experience (i.e., victimization).

However, when IPVA use and experience data are simultaneously included in analyses, bidirectional IPVA often emerges as a common pattern.

There has been limited research into IPVA by military veterans in the UK. Much of this is focused on unidirectional IPVA. The proposed study will extend existing knowledge of patterns of IPVA among veterans and associated factors, and support the development of comprehensive IPVA screening and treatment strategies that incorporate bidirectional IPVA to advance relationship health and safety among veterans.

Given the Ministry of Defence’s current commitment to tackling the issue of IPVA in their organisation (4, 5), there is an imperative to support policy and practice change with good research evidence base.

Aims

• examine the prevalence of different patterns of IPVA among UK military veterans and identify associated risk factors (quantitative)
• identify and explore pathways to different patterns of IPVA among UK veterans (qualitative and quantitative)
• work with military, NHS and third sector providers of support for military and veteran families and those who have experienced IPVA to share findings with the aim of improving education, screening and treatment strategies and ultimately relationship health and safety of veterans

This PhD will use a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data has already been collected as part of a large UK cohort study that has assessed the health and wellbeing of UK Armed Forces personnel who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003. The student will collect new qualitative data from UK veterans identified from the cohort based on their reported patterns of IPVA.

The PhD student will join the King's Centre for Military Health Research team, based in the Department Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. The project would be supported by the main cohort study team leading the work on 4th wave of the cohort data collection which has been running since 2003, as well as the supervisory team and Combat Stress.

The student will have access to data from the previous three phases of the cohort study (2004-2006, 2007-2009 and 2014-2016) and be supported in collecting qualitative data. The student would have full access to all of King’s research methods and academic skills training and have opportunities to teach on undergraduate courses at King's College London.

As a CASE LISS-DTP Studentship, the student will have a close partnership with the external partner, Combat Stress. This partnership will involve a 13-week internship to experience work on a research paper, policy document or dedicated workstream, shadowing staff members Combat Stress, mentoring sessions, facilitation of access to the Armed Forces community, and dissemination at relevant events. CASE LISS-DTP students also have access to additional training and funding opportunities.

Start Date

1 October 2025

Supervisors

Dr Deirdre MacManus

Dr Rachael Gribble

Professor Dominic Murphy

Eligibility criteria

Applicants should have (or be expected to obtain) a bachelor’s degree with 2:1 honours (or Overseas equivalent). A 2:2 degree may be considered only where applicants also offer a master’s with Merit.

Award conditions

To be treated as a Home student, candidates must meet one of the following criteria:

• A UK national (meeting residency requirements)
• Settled status
• Pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements)- Indefinite leave to remain or enter

The award pays maintenance for all students. The stipend/maintenance grant for this PhD will be confirmed soon.

The project is expected to be undertaken on a full-time basis. Students will be based at the King's Centre for Miltary Health Research at King’s College London's Denmark Hill campus, with flexible working (office and home-based), and occasional time at Combat Stress in Surrey.

We encourage students from different backgrounds to apply. We particularly welcome applications from ethnic minority backgrounds. We also welcome applications from ex-service personnel or individuals with knowledge and understanding of Armed Forces health and service life.

Application process

Applicants must complete and submit an online admissions application, via the admissions portal by midnight (23:59 GMT), 7 March 2025.

On the ‘Choosing a programme’ page, please select Psychological Medicine Research PhD (Full-time).

More information on the department and the programme is available at the departmental prospectus page.

In your application, you will be asked to include:

• Academic Transcripts – where applicable, academic transcripts must be submitted with the online admissions application
• Details of your qualifications – you will need to attach copies
• Details of previous employment – please include your CV
• A personal statement describing your interests and why you wish to apply for this project. Please include this as an attachment rather than using the text box.
• Academic References – all admissions applications require one supporting reference. If the applicant is relying on their referees to submit a reference directly to the College after they have submitted their admissions application, then the applicant must ensure that (1) their chosen referee is made aware of the funding deadline (i.e. seven days from application deadline) and (2) that the reference needs to be sent from an institutional email address.

In the Funding section, please tick box 5 and include the following reference: 

DM-LISS- KCMHR-25

Please note there is no need to complete the Research Proposal section in your application as the project has already been set. You are welcome to email supervisor name (email address) for more information regarding the project and studentship.

If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact the Education support team at ioppn.pgr@kcl.ac.uk.

Selection process

Candidates will be shortlisted and the final candidate chosen following an interview (date to be confirmed).