Women's resources and use of strategies as risk and protective factors for reabuse over time.
Using a longitudinal and ecological approach, we investigated the relationships between women's material and emotional resources and strategies and their ability to stay safe over time in a sample of 406 help-seeking African American women. The multivariate analysis demonstrated that social support served as a protective factor and resistance strategies as risk factors for reabuse during a 1-year period. It also showed an interaction between social support and history of violence such that for participants who had experienced the most severe violence, social support did not serve as a protective factor; however, for the other participants, those with the least amount of social support had a 65% predicted probability of reabuse during the next year, compared to a 20% predicted probability for women reporting the highest level of social support. Policy and programmatic implications of these findings are discussed.
Goodman
Lisa
L
Department of Counseling and Developmental Psychology, Boston College.
Dutton
Mary Ann
MA
Vankos
Natalie
N
Weinfurt
Kevin
K
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D018585:Battered Women / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008873:Mid-Atlantic Region / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016387:Women's Health