Economic abuse is part of the pattern of behaviors used by batterers to maintain power and control over their partners. However, no measure of economic abuse exists. This study describes the development of the Scale of Economic Abuse, which was designed to fill this gap. Interviews were conducted with 103 survivors of domestic abuse, each of whom responded to measures of economic, physical, and psychological abuse as well as economic hardship. Results provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the scale. This study is an important first step toward understanding the extent and impact of economic abuse experienced by survivors.

This study examined the co-occurrence of childhood sexual abuse, adult sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and sexual harassment in a predominantly African American sample of 268 female veterans, randomly sampled from an urban Veterans Affairs hospital women's clinic. A combination of hierarchical and iterative cluster analysis was used to identify 4 patterns of women's lifetime experiences of violence co-occurrence. The 1st cluster experienced relatively low levels of all 4 forms of violence; the 2nd group, high levels of all 4 forms; the 3rd, sexual revictimization across the lifespan with adult sexual harassment; and the 4th, high intimate partner violence with sexual harassment. This cluster solution was validated in a theoretically driven model that examined the role of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a mediator of physical health symptomatology. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that PTSD fully mediated the relationship between violence and physical health symptomatology. Consistent with a bio-psycho-immunologic theoretical model, PTSD levels more strongly predicted pain-related physical health symptoms compared to nonpain health problems. Implications for clinical interventions to prevent PTSD and to screen women for histories of violence in health care settings are discussed.

Few rape survivors seek help from formal social systems after their assault. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that prevent survivors from seeking help from the legal, medical, and mental health systems and rape crisis centers. In this study, 29 female rape survivors who did not seek any postassault formal help were interviewed about why they did not reach out to these systems for assistance. Using qualitative methodology, this study found that survivors believed that formal social systems would or could not help or would psychologically harm them. Specifically, survivors thought that systems would not help because survivors themselves believed that they were unworthy of services or that their rape experience did not match stereotypical conceptions of rape. Survivors did not see how the systems could help or protect them from their assailants. Finally, survivors anticipated that systems personnel would cause them further psychological harm by not believing they had been raped or not caring about them. Survivors feared that system assistance would have intensified their painful feelings beyond their coping skills. Therefore, survivors who do not seek help may be attempting to protect themselves from perceived psychological harm. Implications for social work practice are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to advance the measurement of economic abuse by developing an updated version of the Scale of Economic Abuse that addresses key limitations of existing instruments. Building on the original Scale of Economic Abuse, we constructed a 2-dimensional Revised Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA2) to measure abusers' use of economic restriction and economic exploitation to exert control over the economic domain of their partners' lives. Method: Using data collected through a survey of 248 women seeking services for intimate partner violence (IPV), we examined the factor structure of the 14-item SEA2 to test the psychometric soundness of the 2-dimensional conceptualization. We also performed an initial test of the instrument's construct validity by examining its relationship with closely associated constructs, material dependence on the abuser and outstanding debt. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the 2-factor structure of the SEA2. Regression analysis results suggested that the SEA2 measures an economic dimension of IPV as intended and provided initial evidence that the 2 subscales measure distinct forms of economic abuse. Conclusion: The SEA2 appears to be a psychometrically sound instrument for measuring the economic abuse construct. Researchers can use this instrument to further our understanding of the correlates and consequences of this distinct form of IPV. Practitioners could use the SEA2 to assess the types and extent of economic abuse their clients experienced. The substantive findings of the study also have implications for practice and policy.

This longitudinal study used multilevel modeling to examine the relationships between witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV), community and school violence exposure (CSVE), family social support, gender, and depression over 2 years within a sample of 100 school-aged children. We found significant between-child differences in both the initial levels of depression and the trajectories of depression; depression over time was positively associated with change in witnessing IPV and CSVE and negatively associated with change in support. Two significant 3-way interactions were found: Gender and initial support, as well as gender and initial witnessing IPV, both significantly moderated the effect of change in witnessing IPV on the children's depression over time.