Partner Violence, Social Support, and Distress Among Inner‐City African American Women

Thompson, Martie P.; Kaslow, Nadine J.; Kingree, J. B.; Rashid, Akil; Puett, Robin; Jacobs, Diana; Matthews, Alex B.

doi:10.1023/a:1005198514704

Cited by 153 publications

(141 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…A consistent finding in the correlational analyses is that negative social relationships positively relate to helpseeking efforts for many service categories. This adds a useful dimension to earlier findings that low social support is related to increased psychological distress (Thompson et al, 2000) and poor physical functioning in battered women (Nurius et al, 2003). The present findings suggest that negative social interactions may prompt a woman to seek formal services when she does not find adequate support in her social networks.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

Battered Women's Profiles Associated with Service Help-Seeking Efforts: Illuminating Opportunities for Intervention

Macy

Nurius

Kernic

et al. 2005

Social Work Research

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Knowledge about where battered women present for services and the violence, biopsychosocial, and demographic factors associated with their help seeking can provide social workers with guidance in anticipating needs among this portion of their clientele. The authors examined the service contact patterns of a sample of battered women (N = 448) following an incident of partner violence that triggered legal involvement. Significant group differences, tested with t tests and chi squares, between women who sought compared with those who did not seek services were found on partner violence exposure and biopsychosocial factors. Correlations and regression analyses of relationships among partner violence and biopsychosocial and demographic factors with helpseeking indices show how battered women's needs differentially relate across a range of service types. Results show distinctive profiles of needs and resources among battered women who seek violence, legal, health, economic, substance abuse, and religious helping services.Keywords battered women; depression; health; help seeking; partner violence; social support; substance abuse Although they may not be aware of it, social workers see battered and endangered women in their practices every day. Battered women frequently seek support from their social networks and human services providers for a range of life problems without calling attention ©2005 National Association of Social Works Correspondence about this article should be addressed to Dr. Rebecca J. Macy rjmacy@email.unc.edu. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscriptto the violence in their lives (Henning & Klesges, 2002). Comparatively few battered women seek services from providers who specialize in domestic violence. Social workers span a broad spectrum of human services agencies and are well positioned to facilitate abused women's entry into service systems equipped to address the violence in their lives (Nurius & Asplund, 1994).If most women in violent relationships are not seeking domestic violence services, where are they going for help? What are their needs? What can we learn from violence exposure, biopsychosocial, and demographic factors to better anticipate their needs across diverse services? We addressed these questions through an investigation of services help-seeking efforts in a sample of battered women following an incident of intimate partner violence. Our goal is to provide practitioners with detailed information about the needs, resources, and characteristics of battered women as they seek help, predominantly from service providers other than violence specialists.Research generally indicates that women cope with partner violence through informal means as long as possible (Coker, Derrick, Lumpkin, Aldrich, & Oldendick, 2000). As a result, battered women who seek formal services from agencies and providers may have longstanding needs and severe problems (Hutchison & Hirschel, 1998). Partner violence has a radiating impact, with "first orde...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

Battered Women's Profiles Associated with Service Help-Seeking Efforts: Illuminating Opportunities for Intervention

Macy

Nurius

Kernic

et al. 2005

Social Work Research

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show abstract

“…[62][63][64] However, social support was not found to mediate or moderate the effect of the SAVA syndemic factors on depressive symptoms; that is, there was no relationship between social support and the SAVA factors, and the odds for depression among women who experienced IPV or drug use in the past 30 days did not improve even if they had high social support. A conclusion from this finding could be that general social support does not provide enough of a "buffer" against the detrimental impact of experiencing violence or using illicit drugs on women's mental health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The Syndemic Effects of Intimate Partner Violence, HIV/AIDS, and Substance Abuse on Depression among Low-Income Urban Women

et al. 2013

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Intimate partner violence (IPV), HIV/AIDS, and substance use are epidemics among low-income urban women that have been described together as the "SAVA syndemic" because of their co-occurring nature. This study examines the synergistic or "syndemic" effect of these three health issues on depression among urban women and evaluates social support as a protective factor that might reduce depressive symptoms associated with the Substance Abuse, Violence, and AIDS (SAVA) syndemic. Data from 445 urban women were collected through in-person interviews. All women were over the age of 18, not pregnant, English speaking, and reported having a main partner in the past year. Twenty-five percent had experienced all three factors of the SAVA syndemic (were HIV-positive, had experienced IPV in the past year, and had used cocaine or heroin in their lifetime). HIV-positive status, hard drug use, IPV, and low levels of social support were all individually associated with greater depressive symptoms. When controlling for demographics and other SAVA factors, IPV and hard drug use in the past 30 days remained associated with depressive symptoms, as did low social support. However, social support did not modify the effect of the SAVA factors on depression. Compared to women who experienced no SAVA factors, women who had experienced all three factors were 6.77 times more likely to have depressive symptoms. These findings confirm that IPV is significantly associated with depressive symptoms and that the syndemic impact of IPV, substance use, and HIV could have even more extreme effects on depression outcomes.

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“…Although IPV cuts across racial and ethnic boundaries, and all women, regardless of race or ethnicity, need financial assistance in times of economic hardships, there may be differences in how women experience the welfare system, cope with IPV, and manifest health effects of IPV based on their race and/or ethnicity (Campbell, Masaki, & Torres, 1997;Lee, Thompson, & Mechanic, 2002;Thompson et al, 2000;Yoshihama, 2002). Thus, while the racially homogeneous sample limits our ability to generalize the results to women of other racial backgrounds, it avoids the problem of aggregating the data from women of different races whose experiences may differ considerably.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intimate Partner Violence, Welfare Receipt, and Health Status of Low‐Income African American Women: A Lifecourse Analysis

Yoshihama

Hammock

Horrocks

2006

American J of Comm Psychol

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Although the association among intimate partner violence (IPV), welfare receipt, and health status has been well-established, little is known about the temporal sequencing of these events. In a random sample of low-income African American women in an urban Midwestern county, lifecourse data about IPV and welfare receipt were obtained using the Life His- DeMarco, 1988), along with data about mental and physical health status. Controlling for relevant factors, longitudinal analyses found that previous experience of IPV increased women's odds of receiving welfare benefits in a given year, but previous welfare receipt did not. Cumulative IPV, but not cumulative welfare receipt, was associated with current and past-year health problems. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that IPV leads women to turn to welfare assistance, and that compromised physical and mental health due to past cumulative IPV interferes with women's gainful employment.KEY WORDS: intimate partner violence; health; mental health; welfare; lifecourse.The nested ecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) has been used to understand the relationships among the multiple and interacting personal, situational, and sociocultural factors that contribute to women's experiences, such as intimate partner violence (IPV), welfare receipt, and poor health

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Partner Violence, Social Support, and Distress Among Inner‐City African American Women

Cited by 153 publications

References 40 publications

Battered Women's Profiles Associated with Service Help-Seeking Efforts: Illuminating Opportunities for Intervention

Battered Women's Profiles Associated with Service Help-Seeking Efforts: Illuminating Opportunities for Intervention

The Syndemic Effects of Intimate Partner Violence, HIV/AIDS, and Substance Abuse on Depression among Low-Income Urban Women

Intimate Partner Violence, Welfare Receipt, and Health Status of Low‐Income African American Women: A Lifecourse Analysis

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