No abstract

Women in abusive partner relationships seek useful support from family, friends, and the community but are often unsuccessful. Rural women may be especially at risk because of geographical isolation. It was predicted that having a supportive network with access to resources would enable rural women in abusive partner relationships to become free from abuse. We interviewed rural women in previous abusive partner relationships with respect to past and current abuse, supportive and nonsupportive networks, and access to resources. Results indicated that having supportive persons predicted declines in long-term abuse when information and advice were provided that helped women access resources. Nonsupportive persons hindered women's access to resources and were a factor in keeping them bound in abusive relationships.

A modified version of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale was administered to 239 women who belonged to 8 different faith communities in Topeka, Kansas in 2001. 12 members of a Metropolitan (gay and lesbian) church identified themselves as lesbians. Lesbian respondents reported significantly higher relationship satisfaction scores than heterosexual women (Cohen's d = 0.69). Controlling for number of children and social desirability reduced the regression coefficient for sexual orientation to a statistically nonsignificant level. Using a matched sample of 12 heterosexual women compared with the lesbians yielded a nonsignificant result (ES = 0.31). Nevertheless, although not statistically significant, comparisons between lesbians and heterosexual women continued to feature effect sizes that represented higher satisfaction for lesbians with no children or with only one child when compared to heterosexual women with no children or only one child. It is apparent that methodology made a difference in the results obtained in this comparative study of lesbian and heterosexual relationships. It was also observed, among members of churches other than the Metropolitan church, that relationship satisfaction was significantly lower (d = 0.22) among females than males, including among wives compared to husbands; significant linear and cubic relationships between a single-item measure of relationship social desirability and relationship satisfaction were also observed.

Items from the General Support, Informational Support, and Physical Support subscales of the Bosch Support Measure were developed and administered in a small survey of 56 formerly abused rural women in midwestern USA. Maximum likelihood factor analyses were performed on the total of 16 items. A five-factor solution appeared to produce the best results, but only three of the associated subscales yielded Cronbach alphas greater than .70. Limitations of the study are discussed along with implications for professionals working with abused rural women.

Items from the General Support, Informational Support, and Physical Support subscales of the Bosch Support Measure were developed and administered in a small survey of 56 formerly abused rural women in midwestern USA. Maximum likelihood factor analyses were performed on the total of 16 items. A five-factor solution appeared to produce the best results, but only three of the associated subscales yielded Cronbach alphas greater than .70. Limitations of the study are discussed along with implications for professionals working with abused rural women.