This study investigated the extent to which aspects of abuse and of help seeking were associated with physical and emotional health. A total of 1,168 women aged 48 to 53, identified from the mid-age cohort of the Women’s Health Australia longitudinal project as having experienced abuse, completed self-report questionnaires. Descriptors of the abuse and of help seeking were used in an attempt to predict scores on the SF-36 physical and mental health summary measures, GHQ-12, and the CES-D depression scale. Although relationships were apparent in the data, all predictors together accounted for less than 25% of the variance in outcome measures, indicating that a history of abuse is only one aspect of a woman’s life that impacts on her general wellbeing. Future investigations would benefit from a focus on personal coping characteristics that are predictive of positive outcomes to identify strategies that help women survive abuse experiences
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Acierno, R. , Resnick, H. S., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (1997). Health impact of interpersonal violence. Part 1: Prevalence rates, case identification, and risk factors for sexual assault, physical assault, and domestic violence in men andwomen.Behavioural Medicine,23, 53-64.
2.
Alston, M. (1997). Violence against women in a rural context.Australian Social Work,50, 15- 22.
3.
Andresen, E. M. , Malmgren, J. A., Carter, W. B., & Patrick, D. L. (1994). Screening for depression in well older adults: Evaluation of a short form of the CES-D.American Journal of Preventive Medicine,10, 77-83.
4.
Angus, G. , & Hall, G. (1996). Childabuse and neglect, Australia 1994-1995.Child Welfare Series No. 16. Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
5.
Antonovsky, A. (1993). The structure and properties of the Sense of Coherence Scale.Social Science and Medicine,36, 725-733.
6.
Axelson, B. L. (1997). Violence against women—A male issue.Choices,26(2), 9-14.
7.
Babcock, J. C. , Waltz, J., Jacobson, N. S., & Gottman, J. M. (1993). Power and violence: The relation between communication patterns, power discrepancies, and domestic violence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,61, 40-50.
8.
Bagshaw, D. , Chung, D., Couch, M., Lilburn, S., & Wadham, B. (1999).Reshaping responses to domestic violence: Executive summary. Adelaide, Australia: University of South Australia.
9.
Bates, L. , & Brown, W. (1998). Domestic violence: Examining nurses’ and doctors’ management, attitudes, and knowledge in an accident and emergency setting.Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing,15, 15-22.
10.
Bates, L. , Redman, S., Brown, W., & Hancock, L. (1995). Domestic violence experienced by women attending an accident and emergency department.Australian Journal of Public Health,19, 293-299.
11.
Brown, W. , Bryson, L., Byles, J. E., Dobson, A. J., Lee, C., Mishra, G., & Schofield, M. (1998). Women’s Health Australia: Recruitment for a national longitudinal cohort study.Women and Health,28, 23-40.
12.
Campbell, J. , & Soeken, K. (1999). Forced sex and intimate partner violence: Effects on women’s risk and women’s health.Violence Against Women,5(9), 1017-1035.
13.
Coker, A. L. , Smith, P. H., McKeown, R. E., & King, M. J. (2000). Frequency andcorrelates of intimate partner violence by type: Physical, sexual, and psychological battering.American Journal of Public Health,90, 553-559.
14.
Counts, D. , Brown, J. K., & Campbell, J. C. (1999).To have and to hit (2nded.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
15.
Crowell, N. A. , & Burgess, A. W. (Eds.). (1996).Understanding violence against women. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
16.
Devins, G. M. , Orme, C. M., Costello, C. G., Binik, Y. M., Frizzell, B., Stam, H. J., & Pullin, W. M. (1988). Measuring depressive symptoms in illness populations: Psychometric properties of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression (CES-D) Scale.Psychology and Health,2, 139-156.
17.
de vries Robbé, M. , March, L., Vinen, J., Horner, D., & Roberts, G. (1996). Prevalence of domestic violence among patients attending a hospital emergency department.Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health,20, 364-368.
18.
Dillman, D. A. (1991) The design and administration of mail surveys.Annual Review of Sociology,17, 225-249.
19.
Featherstone, B. (1996). Victims or villains? Women who physically abuse their children. In B. Fawcett, B. Featherstone, J. Hearn, & C. Toft (Eds.),Violence and gender relations (pp. 178- 189). London: Sage.
20.
Fergusson, D. M. , Horwood, L. J., & Lynskey, M. T. (1997). Childhood sexual abuse, adolescent sexual behaviours and sexual revictimization.Child Abuse and Neglect,21, 789-803.
21.
Fleming, J. M. (1997). Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse in a community sample of Australian women.Medical Journal of Australia,166(2), 65-68.
22.
Garratt, A. M. , Ruta, D. A., Abdalla, M. I., Buckingham, J. K., & Russell, I. T. (1993).The SF-36 health survey questionnaire: An outcome measure suitable for routine use within the NHS?British Medical Journal,306, 1440-1444.
23.
Goldberg, D. P. (1972).The detection of psychiatric illness by questionnaire. London: Oxford University Press.
24.
Goldberg, D. P. , & Williams, P. (1988).A user’s guide to the General Health Questionnaire. Windsor, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)-Nelson.
25.
Goodman, L. A. , Koss, M. P., & Russo, N. F. (1993). Violence against women: Physical and mental health effects. Part 1: Research findings.Journal of Applied and Preventive Psychology,2, 79-89.
26.
Greaves, L. , Hankivsky, O., & Kingson-Riechters, J. (1995).Selected estimates of the costs of violence against women. London: Centre for Research on Violence Against Women.
27.
Hegarty, K. L. , Sheehan, M., & Schonfeld, C. (1999). A multidimensional definition of partner abuse: Development andpreliminary validation of the Composite Abuse Scale.Journal of Family Violence,14, 399-414.
28.
Heise, L. , Ellsberg, M., & Gottemoeller, M. (1999, December).Ending violence against women (Population Reports, Series L, No. 11). Baltimore: John Hopkins University School of Public Health.
29.
Irwin, J. , & Thorpe, R. (1996). Women, violence, and social change. In R. Thorpe & J. Irwin (Eds.),Women and violence (pp. 1-15). Sydney, Australia: Hale & Iremonger.
30.
Jenkinson, C. , Wright, L., & Coulter, A. (1994). Criterion validity and reliability of the SF-36 in a population sample.Quality of Life Research,3, 7-12.
31.
Johnson, M. P. , & Ferraro, K. J. (2000). Research on domestic violence in the 1900s: Making distinctions.Journal of Marriage and the Family,62, 948-963.
32.
Johnstone, H. , Moyle, H., Kelly, S., & Dowling, P. (2000).Child protection, Australia 1998-1999 (Child Welfare Series No. 25). Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
33.
Koss, M. P. (1990). The women’s mental health research agenda: Violence against women. American Psychologist,43, 374-380.
34.
Mazza, D. , Dennerstein, L., & Ryan, V. (1996). Physical, sexual, andemotional violence against women: A general practice-basedprevalence study.Medical Journal of Australia,164, 14- 17.
35.
McDowell, I. , & Newell, C. (1996).Measuring health: A guide to rating scales and questionnaires (2nded.). New York: Oxford University Press.
36.
McFarlane, J. , Parker, B., Soeken, K., & Bullock, L. (1992). Assessing for abuse during pregnancy: Severity and frequency of injuries associated with entry into prenatal care.Journal of the American Medical Association,267, 3176-3178.
37.
McFarlane, J. , Willson, P., Malecha, A., & Lemmey, D. (2000). Intimate partner violence: A gender comparison.Journal of Interpersonal Violence,15, 158-169.
38.
McLennan, W. (1996).Women’s safety, Australia. Canberra, ACT: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
39.
Messman, T. L. , & Long, P. J. (1996). Child sexual abuse andits relationship to revictimization in adult women: A review.Clinical Psychology Review,16, 397-420.
40.
Mugford, J. , & Mugford, S. (1992). Policing domestic violence. In P. Moir & H. Eijkman (Eds.), Policing Australia (pp. 321-351). Melbourne, Australia: Macmillan.
41.
Munro, B. H. (2001).Statistical methods for health care research (4th ed.). Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.
42.
National Crime Prevention . (2000).Young people and domestic violence: National research on young people’s attitudes and experiences of domestic violence. Canberra, ACT: Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department.
43.
Office of the Status of Women . (1995).Community attitudes to violence against women: Detailed report. Canberra, ACT: Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, Government Publishing Service.
44.
Parker, G. , & Lee, C. (2002). Violence and abuse: An assessment of mid-aged Australian women’s experiences.Australian Psychologist,37 (2), 142-148.
45.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population.Journal of Applied Psychological Measurement,1, 385-401.
46.
Resnick, H. S. , Acierno, R., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (1997). Health impact of interpersonal violence: Part 2. Medical and mental health outcomes.Behavioral Medicine,23, 65-78.
47.
Roberts, G. L. , Lawrence, J. M., Williams, G. M., & Raphael, B. (1998). The impact of domestic violence on women’s mental health.Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 22, 796-801.
48.
Roberts, G. L. , O’Toole, B. I., Lawrence, J. M., & Raphael, B. (1993). Domestic violence victims in a hospital emergency department.Medical Journal of Australia,159, 307-310.
49.
Shaw, E. , Bouris, A., & Pye, S. (1996). The family safety model: A comprehensive strategy for working with domestic violence.Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 17, 126-136.
50.
Straus, M. A. (1979). Measuring interfamily conflict and violence: The Conflict Tactics (CT) Scale.Journal of Marriage and Family,41, 75-88.
51.
Sugarman, D. B. , & Hotaling, G. T. (1997). Intimate violence and social desirability: A metaanalytic review.Journal of Interpersonal Violence,12, 275-290.
52.
Tjaden, P. , & Thoennes, N. (1998).Prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
53.
Ware, J. E. , Kosinski, M., & Keller, S. D. (1994).SF-36 physical and mental health summary scales: A user’s manual. Boston: The Health Institute, New England Medical Center.
54.
Ware, J. E. , & Sherbourne, C. D. (1992). The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36): Part 1. Conceptual framework and item selection.Medical Care,30, 473-483.
55.
Ware, J. E. , Snow, K. K., Kosinski, M., & Gandek, B. (1993).SF-36 health survey manual and interpretation guide. Boston: The Health Institute, New England Medical Center.
56.
Weissman, M. M. , Sholomskas, D., Pottenger, M., Prusoff, B. A., & Locke, B. Z. (1977). Assessing depressive symptoms in five psychiatric populations: A validation study.American Journal of Epidemiology,106, 203-214.
57.
World Health Organization . (1997, July).Violence against women: A priority health issue (Fact sheet WHO/FRH/WHD/97.8). Geneva, Switzerland: Author.
