Incidence and Correlates of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Battered Women

Shelter and Community Samples

Bibliographic Data

ID23355804
AuthorsAnita Kemp (Tioga County Mental Health Clinic), Bonnie L Green (Georgetown University Medical School), CHRISTINE HOVANITZ (University of Cincinnati), Christine A Hovanitz (University of Cincinnati), Edna I Rawlings (University of Cincinnati)
Year1995
Volume10
Issue1
Pages43-55
Publication date1995-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Interpersonal Violence (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0886-2605 • E-ISSN: 1552-6518
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/088626095010001003
OpenAlexW2091647483
LanguageEN
Citations received77
References cited18

Battered women have been identified as being at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study further articulated the nature of the relationship between the trauma of battery and PTSD. One hundred seventy-nine battered women and 48 nonbattered but verbally abused women were recruited from several sources (shelters, support groups, therapist referrals, community). Battered women with and without PTSD were compared with the finding that battered women with PTSD had experienced more physical abuse, more verbal abuse, more injuries, a greater sense of threat, and more forced sex than battered women without PTSD. Eighty-one percent of the physically abused group met the criteria for the PTSD diagnosis, although 63% of the verbally abused group met the criteria. In multiple regression analyses in the battered sample, the strongest predictors of extent of PTSD were (in order of variance explained) the use of disengagement coping strategies to handle the battery, experiencing of negative life events, the battery experience, and lack of perceived social support. The diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder is important to consider when a woman has experienced a physically abusive relationship, but also when the experience has been of a verbally abusive relationship. It also is important to assess coping strategies, social support, and stressors to evaluate the potential psychological impact of the abuse.

Abusive relationship · Coping (psychology) · Disengagement theory · Domestic violence · Injury prevention · Medical emergency · Occupational safety and health · Poison control · Psychiatry · Sexual abuse · Social support · Suicide prevention · Child Abuse and Trauma · Clinical Psychology · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Social Psychology · Gerontology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub