Content area
Full Text
The contribution of psychological abuse, beyond that of physical abuse, to battered women's psychological adjustment and their intentions to terminate their abusive relationships was examined. Sixty-eight battered women residing in shelters for battered women provided information on their: (1) physical and psychological abuse; (2) psychological symptomatology; (3) strategies for coping with and perceptions of control over partner violence; and (4) intentions to return to their abusive partners. Multiple regression analyses indicated that frequency and severity of physical abuse was not a significant predictor of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology nor of women's intentions to terminate their abusive relationships. However, psychological abuse was a significant predictor of both PTSD symptomatology and intentions to permanently leave abusive partners even after controlling for the effects of physical abuse. PTSD symptomatology moderated the relationship between psychological abuse and intentions to terminate the abusive relationships: resolve to leave the abusive partner as a function of level of psychological abuse was significant only among women characterized by low levels of PTSD symptomatology. Greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies, absolutely and relative to problem-focused coping, had direct effects on PTSD symptomatology. However, neither coping nor perceptions of control moderated the effects of psychological abuse on psychological adjustment. The results of the investigation suggested that psychological abuse and ensuing PTSD symptomatology are important variables to assess among physically battered women.
Psychological abuse, frequently defined as, "verbal and nonverbal acts which symbolically hurt the other, or the use of threats to hurt the other..." (Straus, 1979, p. 77), has been shown to covary significantly with physical abuse among married couples (Follingstad, Rutledge, Berg, Hause, & Polek, 1990), dating high-school students (Molidor, 1995), and pregnant teenage and adult women (Parker, McFarlane, Soeken, Torres, & Campbell, 1993). Contrary to expectations, women have been shown to object, fear, and resent psychological abuse and its effects more than those of physical abuse (Follingstad et al., 1990; Herbert, Silver, & Ellard, 1991; O'Leary & Curley, 1986; Walker, 1984). It is surprising, therefore, that researchers have focused little attention on the occurrence and impact of psychological abuse on women's physical and mental health. Lack of empirical interest may in part be a function of the need to respond to the severe consequences of physical battering and the expectation that...