Distress and Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Abused Women

Abstract

Emotional distress and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were examined among women in psychologically abusive relationships. Women (N = 93) were divided into three groups (none, moderate, severe) according to scores on the violence subscale of the Severity of Violence Against Women Scales (Marshall, 1992). All groups reported serious emotional distress on the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (Derogatis, 1983) dimensions (e.g., more so than 93% of the nonclinical norm for global distress). Psychoticism was the highest subscale for all groups. Most women (56%) suffered PTSD according to a subscale of the SCL90 (Saunders, Arata, & Kilpatrick, 1990). Difficulties with perception, memory, and motor functions (cognitive failure) more consistently predicted intrusive thoughts, PTSD scores, and attempted suicide than did women’s attention to their inner thoughts and feelings (private self-consciousness), which was important for the sample and the subgroup that had sustained severe violence. Limitations and contributions are discussed as are different uses for conservative and inclusive measures of PTSD.

The child as held in the mind of the mother: The influence of prenatal maternal representations on parenting behaviors

“…Indeed, prior research has suggested that IPV has a negative influence on parenting behaviors (DeVoe & Smith, 2002;Levendosky, Lynch, & Graham-Bermann, 2000). Parenting may be impaired because of the stress of experiencing IPV and its resultant negative effects on the mental health of the woman (Astin, Lawrence, & Foy, 1993;Astin, Ogland Hand, Coleman, & Foy, 1995;Vitanza, Vogel, & Marshall, 1995). Exposure to IPV may inhibit a mother's ability to regulate her own affects and behaviors which may compromise her ability to engage in wellregulated interactions with her infant.…”

Psychological abuse of women: Six distinct clusters

“…Third, psychological abuse may precede violence (Hilberman andMunson, 1977-1978;Star, 1982, Stets, 1990 and, therefore, be predictive of a violent incident (FoUingstad, Laughlin et al, 1991). Fourth, psychological abuse has been associated with PTSD (Dickstein, 1988;Vitanza et al, 1995) and serious physical and psychological symptomology (Geffner and Pagelow, 1990;Hoffman, 1984;Marshall, 1993a,b;Tolman and Bhosley, 1991;Vitanza et a/., 1991) including attempted suicide (Stephens, 1985). The variety of sources from which women seek help for psychological abuse is as broad as it is for women experiencing physical or sexual aggression (Hamilton and Coates, 1993).…”

“…With few exceptions (Laner, 1989a,b;Marshall, 1993a,b;Powers, 1986;Stets, 1991;Vitanza et aL, 1995) researchers have used overt, easily recognizable acts for items (e.g., Hoffman, 1984;Laner, 1985;Renzetti, 1992;Retzinger, 1991;Marshall, 1990, 1991;Stets, 1991;Tolman, 1992) and scales (Hudson and Mclntosh, 1981;Rodenberg and Fantuzzo, 1992;Shephard and Campbell, 1992;Tolman, 1989) measuring psychological abuse. Yet, different men may enact different types (Mills, 1985) or levels of psychological aggression (Saunders, 1992).…”

Effect of an administrative intervention on rates of screening for domestic violence in an urban emergency department

“…This is of concern because domestic violence victims have increased rates of mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and dependence, and suicidal ideation. [39][40][41][42][43] Intervention enhanced screening on the night shift, as night workers were less likely to screen preintervention, possibly reflecting a generalized decrease in vigilance, mood, and circadian harmony in emergency department shift workers. 44 Shift workers may require targeted interventions, because victims are sometimes overrepresented on the night shift.…”