Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2005-01
The Mediational Role of Relationship Efficacy and Resource Utilization in the Link Between Physical and Psychological Abuse and Relationship Termination
This study examines the roles of physical and emotional abuse and resource utilization, relationship efficacy, and childhood abuse on relationship status (together or separated) in a sample of 69 low-income, nonsheltered battered women. Separate path models were conducted for physical and psychological abuse. Increased physical abuse was related to separated status, increased resource utilization, and decreased efficacy. The effect of physical abuse on status was mediated by resource utilization and efficacy, whereas the effect of psychological abuse on status was partially mediated only by utilization. Increased childhood abuse was associated with together status. Baseline psychological but not physical abuse predicted a longer term separated status thereby suggesting that the effects of psychological abuse may be enduring.
Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: Areview and recommended two-step program. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 411-423.
2.
Arbuckle, J. L., & Wothke, W. (1999). AMOS 4.0 users’ guide. Chicago: SmallWaters Corporation.
3.
Arias, I., & Pape, K. T. (1999). Psychological abuse: Implications for adjustment and commitment to leave violent partners. Violence and Victims, 14, 55-67.
4.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Towards a unifying theory of behavior change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.
5.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
6.
Barnett, O. W.,& LaViolette, A. D. (1993). It could happen to anyone: Why battered women stay. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
7.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
8.
Bentler, P. M.,& Chou, C. P. (1987). Practical issues in structural modeling. Sociological Methods and Research, 16, 78-117.
9.
Biddle, B. J.,& Marlin, M. M. (1987). Causality, confirmation, credulity, and structural equation modeling. Child Development, 58, 4-17.
10.
Bremner, J. D., Vermetten, E., & Mazure, M. C. (2000). Development and preliminary psychometric properties of an instrument for the measurement of childhood trauma: The early trauma inventory. Depression and Anxiety, 12, 1-12.
11.
Brockner, J.,& Rubin, J. Z. (1985). Entrapment in escalating conflicts: Asocial psychological analysis. New York: Springer-Verlag.
12.
Browne, A., & Williams, K. R. (1993). Gender, intimacy, and lethal violence: Trends from 1976-1987. Gender & Society, 7, 78-98.
13.
Browne, M. W.,& Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessingmodel fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models(pp. 136-162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
14.
Burke, J. G., Gielen, A. C., McDonnell, K. A., O’Campo, P.,& Maman, S. (2001). The process of ending abuse in intimate relationships. A qualitative exploration of the transtheoretical model. Violence Against Women, 7, 1144-1163.
15.
Campbell, J. C., Rose, L., Kub, J., & Nedd, D. (1998). Voices of strength and resistance. A contextual and longitudinal analysis of women’s responses to battering. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 13,743-762.
16.
Campbell, J. C.,& Soeken, K. L. (1999). Women’s responses to battering: Atest of the model. Research in Nursing and Health, 22, 49-58.
17.
Coben, J. H., Forjuoh, S. N.,& Gondolf, E. W. (1999). Injuries and health care use in women with partners in batterer intervention programs. Journal of Family Violence, 14, 83-95.
18.
Cohen, M., Deamant, C., Barkan, S., Richardson, J., Young, M., Holman, S., et al. (2000). Domestic violence and childhood sexual abuse in HIV-infected women and women at risk for HIV. American Journal of Public Health, 90, 560-565.
19.
Dobash, R. E., & Dobash, R. (1979). Violence against wives: Acase against the patriarchy. New York: Free Press.
20.
Feldman, C. M., & Ridley, C. A. (1995). The etiology and treatment of domestic violence between adult partners. Clinical Psychology-Science & Practice, 2, 317-348.
21.
Follingstad, D. R., Rutledge, L. L., Berg, B. J., Hause, E. S., & Polek, D. S. (1990). The role of emotional abuse in physically abusive relationships. Journal of Family Violence, 5, 107-120.
22.
Gelles, R. J. (1976). Abused wives: Why do they stay?Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 659-668.
23.
Gilbert, L., El-Bassel, N., Schilling, R. F., & Friedman, E. (1997). Childhood abuse as a risk for partner abuse among women in methadone maintenance. American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse, 23, 581-595.
24.
Gortner, E., Berns, S. B., Jacobson, N. S., & Gottman, J. M. (1997). When women leave violent relationships: Dispelling clinical myths. Psychotherapy, 34, 343-352.
25.
Hirsch, A. E. (2001). “The world was never a safe place for them”: Abuse, welfare reform and women with drug convictions. Violence Against Women, 7, 159-175.
26.
Horton, A. L., & Johnson, B. L. (1993). Profile and strategies of women who have ended abuse. Families in Society, 74, 481-491.
27.
Hutchison, I. W., & Hirschel, J. D. (1998). Abused women: Help-seeking strategies and police utilization. Violence Against Women, 4, 436-456.
28.
Jacobson, N. S., Gottman, J. M., Gortner, E., Berns, S., & Shortt, J. W. (1996). Psychological factors in the longitudinal course of battering: When do couples split up? When does the abuse decrease?Violence and Victims, 11, 371-392.
29.
Johnson, I. M. (1992). Economic, situational, and psychological correlates of the decisionmaking process of battered women. Families in Society, 73, 168-176.
30.
Lerner, F. C., & Kennedy, T. L. (2000). Stay-leave decision making in battered women: Trauma, coping and self-efficacy. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 24, 215-232.
31.
Loehlin, J. C. (1992). Latent variable models: An introduction to factor, path, and structural analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
32.
Lopez, F. G.,& Lent, R. W. (1991). Efficacy-based predictors of relationship adjustment and persistenceamongcollege students. Journal of College Student Development, 32, 223-229.
33.
O’Leary, K. D. (1999). Psychological abuse: A variable deserving critical attention in domestic violence. Violence and Victims, 14, 3-23.
34.
Pagelow, M. D. (1981). Factors affecting women’s decision to leave violent relationships. Journal of Family Issues, 2, 391-414.
35.
Prochaska, J. O., Velicer, W. F., Rossi, J. S., Goldstein, M. G., Marcus, B. H., Rakowski, W., et al. (1994). Stages of change and decisional balance for 12 problem behaviors. Health Psychology, 13, 39-46.
36.
Rhodes, N. R., & McKenzie, E. B. (1998). Why do battered women stay?: Three decades of research. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 3, 391-406.
37.
Snyder, D. K., & Fruchtman, L. A. (1981). Differential patterns of wife abuse: Adata-based typology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 49, 878-885.
38.
Straus, M. A., & Gelles, R. J. (1990). Physical violence in American families. Risk factors and adaptations to violence in 8,145 families. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishing.
39.
Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D. B. (1996). The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2). Development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283-316.
40.
Strube, M. J. (1988). The decision to leave an abusive relationship: Empirical evidence and theoretical issues. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 236-250.
41.
Swan, S. C.,& Gill, K. (1998). The Resource Utilization Questionnaire. Unpublished measurement instrument, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
42.
Tolman, R. M. (1989). The development of a measure of psychological maltreatment of women by their male partners. Violence and Victims, 4, 159-178.
43.
Walker, L. E. (1983). Victimology and the psychological perspectives of battered women. Victimology, 8, 82-104.
44.
Walker, L. E. (1984). The battered woman syndrome. New York: Springer.
45.
Wyatt, G. E., Axelrod, J., Chin, D., Carmona, J. V., & Loeb, T. B. (2000). Examining patterns of vulnerability to domestic violence among African American women. Violence Against Women, 6, 495-514.
