NCJ Number
138508
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 7 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: 229-249
Date Published
1992
Length
21 pages
Annotation
Ten environmental and behavioral skills correlates of depressive symptoms were examined in 136 battered women recruited from several battered women's groups (62 percent) and shelters (38 percent) in the State of Hawaii.
Abstract
It was hypothesized that environmental variables and behavioral skills deficits would be correlated with depressive symptoms. There were significant zero-order correlations between depression scores and all of the hypothesized environmental and behavioral skills variables. These variables together accounted for 46 percent of the variability in depression scores. However, the findings provided only partial support for the proposed model as only four variables were found to be uniquely associated with depressive symptoms: history of depression, realistic assessment, deficient self-reinforcement, and loss of sources of potential reinforcement. The study findings suggest two implications for treatment: women with deficient self-reinforcement skills who report histories of depression and multiple losses and who realistically assess their battering relationships may be at particular risk of depression; and at least some of the cognitions of depressed battered women are not distorted but rather "reflect negative realities." 3 tables and 66 references