title: Hardiness, history of abuse and women's health.
abstract: This study examined hardiness and health in women with and without histories of physical and/or sexual abuse. Patients (N=201) from a major Midwestern hospital gynecology clinic completed measures of hardiness, physical health, psychological health and neuroticism. The following findings were obtained: (a) the proposed three-factor structure of hardiness was not confirmed, and a different model was suggested; (b) evidence for convergent (adjustment and neuroticism) validity was found; (c) hardiness was significantly associated with physical and psychological health; (d) hardiness was not found to moderate the effects of an abusive past; and (e) the constructs of neuroticism and hardiness appear to overlap to a certain extent. Implications of these findings for theory, research and practice are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298-0268, USA. cjheckman@vcu.edu
authors.forename: Carolyn J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Heckman
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Clay
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016387:Women's Health