title: Ethnic differences in battered women's formal help-seeking strategies: a focus on health, mental health, and spirituality.
abstract: The primary goal of this study was to identify ethnic differences in battered women's use of health, mental health, and spiritual coping strategies, as well as differences in the perceived helpfulness of each strategy. The authors recruited a sample of 376 African American and Caucasian victims of interpersonal violence from various sites. In comparison with Caucasian women in the sample, African American women were significantly more likely to report using prayer as a coping strategy and significantly less likely to seek help from mental health counselors. The 2 groups did not significantly differ in terms of the extent to which they sought help from clergy or medical professionals. African American women found prayer to be more helpful than did Caucasian women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Mai Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: El-Khoury
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry.
authors.forename: Mary Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dutton
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling Psychology.
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Robin J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Belamaric
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D018585:Battered Women / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008873:Mid-Atlantic Region; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D029181:Spirituality; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology