Traumatic stress symptoms of women exposed to different forms of childhood victimization and intimate partner violence.
Interviews of women with (n = 193) and without (n = 170) recent exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) were used to examine how IPV and past exposure to child abuse influence self-reports of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The measurement of IPV included assessing psychological, physical, escalated physical, and sexual abuse. Women's retrospective accounts of childhood victimization included reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and witnessing domestic violence growing up. Each form of adult IPV showed an independent association with PTSD symptoms, as did each form of childhood victimization. In regression models including child and adult abuse together, adult IPV and childhood sexual abuse were related to PTSD symptoms, and adult IPV mediated the association between childhood physical abuse and adult PTSD. Tests of the interactions between childhood and adulthood victimization on PTSD symptoms were not significant. Findings are discussed within the context of a life-course perspective of trauma.
Becker
Kimberly D
KD
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. kbecker@jhsph.edu
Stuewig
Jeffrey
J
McCloskey
Laura A
LA
D000328:Adult; D018585:Battered Women / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015897:Comorbidity; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult