2025 | Track 2 | Walking on Eggshells: The Mental Health Consequences of Immediate Rule Adjustment for Domestic Violence Shelter Residents

TRACK 2 SEED GRANT | Whole Health Consortium

Walking on Eggshells: The Mental Health Consequences of Immediate Rule Adjustment for Domestic Violence Shelter Residents

TEAM:

• Bernice Owusu‑Brown — Research Scientist, Institute for Policy and Governance, Virginia Tech
• Meagan Brem, PhD — Assistant Professor, Psychology, Virginia Tech
• Joanna Collins, PhD — Assistant Professor of Practice, School of Education, Virginia Tech
• Mary Beth Dunkenberger — Associate Director & Research Scientist, Institute for Policy and Governance, Virginia Tech
• Kelly McCoy — Executive Director, Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley

Domestic violence shelters are essential for survivor safety, yet the rules designed to protect residents can unintentionally increase psychosocial stress, anxiety, and emotional strain. Walking on Eggshells examines how rapid rule adjustment, enforcement, and communication shape the mental health and daily well‑being of residents transitioning through shelter environments. Partnering with the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley, this Track II project investigates how shelter policies function not only as safety mechanisms, but also as modifiable social and environmental determinants of health.

Using a mixed‑methods, community‑engaged approach, the team will study how residents experience and internalize shelter rules in real time. Through smartphone‑based experience sampling, residents will reflect briefly throughout the day on stress, emotional states, and interactions with shelter policies. This approach captures moment‑to‑moment fluctuations in well‑being that traditional surveys often miss, providing a more nuanced understanding of how rules affect mental health during periods of transition.

In close collaboration with shelter staff and residents, the project will also co‑develop and pilot a trauma‑informed, flexibility‑centered intervention focused on communication, autonomy, and connection rather than control. This intervention is designed to support safe rule transitions, reduce retraumatization, and promote emotional recovery as residents prepare for independent housing.

By reframing rule adjustment as a modifiable, whole‑person determinant of health, this project lays the groundwork for scalable, evidence‑informed practices that can be adapted across domestic violence shelters. The findings will inform future external funding proposals and contribute to broader efforts to strengthen survivor safety, autonomy, and long‑term well‑being.