Coping with Intimate Partner Violence: Battered Women's Use and Perceived Helpfulness of Emotion-Focused Coping Strategies

• NCJ Number: 224325
• Journal: Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: 2008 Pages: 23-41
• Author(s): Emily M. Bauman; David A. F. Haaga; Mary Ann Dutton
• Date Published: 2008
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined features of the emotion-focused coping efforts of victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), as well as their retrospective ratings of the usefulness of these efforts.

Abstract

The emotion-focused coping efforts rated by the victims as “minimally helpful” were self-harm, aggressive behavior, and minimizing or denying the situation. Coping strategies rated as “helpful” were characterized by self-care, increased independence, distraction, social support, emotional expression, imagery of empowerment, and problem-solving. Strategies rated as ”extremely helpful” involved spirituality development, self-care, increased independence, and increased empowerment. It would be beneficial for intervention to encourage battered women to increase their use of coping strategies that they are not using often, but that they rate as helpful. Participants were recruited as part of a larger longitudinal study that is examining an ecological model of battered women’s experiences over time. Participants were 406 women recruited from 3 sites in a mid-Atlantic city. The sample was 81 percent African-American, 13 percent Caucasian, and 6 percent mixed or members of other ethnicities. Participants were asked about a number of demographic variables, including age, ethnicity, education, employment, income, relationship status, living situation, and children. The Strategies for Dealing with IPV Effects Questionnaire, which was developed specifically for the longitudinal study, assessed participants’ use of emotion-focused coping strategies. It contains a list of 29 strategies that women use to cope with feelings stemming from IPV. In order to evaluate the subjective outcomes of coping strategies, the measure included a Likert-type scale for individuals to rate the perceived helpfulness of each strategy they had used, from one (“not at all helpful”) to five (“very helpful”). 4 tables and 24 references