Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Coping and violence exposure as predictors of psychological functioning in domestic violence survivors
Other Titles:	Violence against women
Authors:	Sage, Robert E Lewis, Carla S Griffing, Sascha Chu, Melissa Jospitre, Tania Madry, Lorraine Primm, Beny J
Keywords:	Cross-cultural;Psychological abuse;Mental health
Year:	2006
Publisher:	Sage Publications
Citation:	12 (4), April 2006
Notes:	This US study examined the differential effects of adult and childhood physical and psychological abuse, abuse-specific coping, and psychological adjustment in battered women who sought emergency domestic violence shelter. Coping strategies and styles (including cultural factors) from various research studies were discussed. This study examined the relative effects of emotional and physical forms of childhood and adult abuse whilst acknowledging prior exposure to abuse may exacerbate, either independently or cojointly, reaction to current abuse. The contribution of psychological threat or intimidation, physical battering and childhood maltreatment on the psychological adjustment of women entering shelter was examined. Participants consisted of 102 female residents of two inner-city emergency domestic violence shelters. Ethnicity was categorised as African American, Latino or other. A structured interview was conducted with each participant and a combination of psychosocial measures was used for analyses. Findings indicated that participants used mixed coping strategies when coping with abuse. The women often diverged from more socially esteemed proactive strategies and developed situationally responsive strategies to survive. Participants relied mostly on wishful thinking (a disengaged strategy) and problem solving (an engaged strategy). As violence escalated, participants disengaged more, with women reporting greater social withdrawal, wishful thinking and deflecting blame strategies. When the threat was non-physical, survivors increasingly used engaged strategies (e.g. reaching out to others). Findings on childhood trauma indicated that all forms of neglect and abuse in childhood were inversely related to self-esteem. Childhood and adult emotional abuse were uniquely associated with depression, above and beyond the effects of physical abuse. This indicated that the depressive symptomatology and self-esteem deficits associated with domestic violence cannot unequivocally be attributed to physical assault alone. The impact of psychological abuse, both current and historic, uniquely predicted negative outcome. The study argued that modes of coping traditionally considered adaptive (e.g. engaged, proactive) may be unsafe for battered women and children.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/14019
ISSN:	1077-8012
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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