Beyond bruises and broken bones: the joint effects of stress and injuries on battered women's health.
We investigated the joint mediating effects of injuries and stress on the relationship between abuse and women's health. A community sample of 397 women, half of whom had been assaulted by an intimate partner within the prior 6 months, was interviewed about their experience of intimate partner violence, injuries, stress, income, depression, and physical health problems. Structural equation modeling techniques confirmed the complex model of hypothesized indirect effects of abuse on women's physical health problems through injuries, stress, and depression. Stress accounted for 80% of the indirect effect of abuse on women's physical health. Its direct effect on physical health was somewhat larger than its indirect effect through depression, but both processes played a key role in determining the effect of abuse on women's physical health problems. Furthermore, abuse was a stronger predictor of women's stress than was poverty. Implication and future research are discussed.
Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1117, USA.
Cheryl A
CA
Sutherland
Deborah I
DI
Bybee
Cris M
CM
Sullivan
D000328:Adult; D018585:Battered Women / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000145:classification; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D015146:Midwestern United States; D008960:Models, Psychological; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016387:Women's Health; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology