Measuring change in Psychologist-Led Specialist Interventions (PLSI): the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Multi-Agency Stalking Partnership Measurement Framework

Abstract

Background: how change should be defined and measured within psychological interventions for stalking remains poorly specified, despite growing policy and practice interest in perpetrator-focused work. Existing evaluations have relied heavily on criminal justice outcomes, offering limited insight into psychological mechanisms associated with persistence, risk, and desistance.

Aims: this paper describes the outcome measurement framework used within Psychologist-Led Specialist Interventions (PLSI) delivered by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Multi-Agency Stalking Partnership (MASP), illustrating a pragmatic, clinically grounded approach to assessing change in real-world forensic practice.

Methods: drawing on routine clinical practice, the paper outlines the selection, timing, and application of outcome measures used within MASP PLSI. Measures span psychological distress, experiential avoidance, impulsivity, agency, rumination, social functioning, and everyday functioning, alongside structured professional judgement in stalking risk assessment. The framework combines a core set of measures used across all interventions with additional typology-specific and therapy-specific tools aligned to formulation and intervention targets.

Results: outcome measurement within MASP is embedded within clinical formulation and intervention delivery rather than treated as a standalone evaluative exercise. The framework prioritises feasibility, sensitivity to short-term change, and relevance to distinct stalking typologies, while accommodating longer-term and schema-focused assessment for complex presentations.

Conclusions: the MASP framework provides a transparent account of current practice in a developing field and highlights key priorities for future research, including the development of stalking-specific outcome measures, improved assessment of social and relational functioning, and integration of victim-centred and goal-based outcomes. This work offers a reference point for forensic practitioners and researchers seeking to evaluate psychological change within stalking interventions.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Rebecca Jane Harris: orcid.org/0000-0002-8537-7282

ORCID for Katerina Porter: orcid.org/0000-0002-0673-9178

ORCID for Julie Parkes: orcid.org/0000-0002-6490-395X

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