Transcript An Investigation of PTSD Symptoms as a Mechanism For Revictimization in Women

An Investigation of PTSD Symptoms as
a Mechanism For Revictimization in
Women
Mindi Pampel
Department of Psychology
University of Dayton
Introduction
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In the United States, one out of every four women will
experience violence by an intimate partner sometime
during her lifetime (Tjaden & Thoennes, 1999).
Revictimization: women abused physically as children
are at much greater risk for abuse as adults.
It is valuable to learn the mechanisms by which
physically abused girls become victims of domestic
violence as adults.
Introduction continued
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A potential mechanism of revictimization is that child
abuse leads to PTSD symptoms in the form of emotional
(i.e., alexithymia and numbing), behavioral (i.e., drug
and alcohol abuse) and cognitive (i.e., mistrust, cognitive
simplicity, and maladaptive attachment styles) changes.
These symptoms create a greater risk for dealing
maladaptively with violent situations and place the
woman at risk for entering abusive relationships.
Hypotheses
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Mediation would be demonstrated as specified by
Baron and Kenny (1986).
Child abuse, PTSD symptoms and related coping strategies of
domestic violence would all be significantly, positively
correlated with each other. The two exceptions to this are the
secure and dismissive-avoidant attachment styles. I
hypothesized that these attachment dimensions would be
negatively correlated with the experience of child abuse and
domestic violence.
When controlling for PTSD symptoms and related coping
strategies, the relationship between childhood abuse and
subsequent abuse in adulthood would no longer be statistically
significant.
Method
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One hundred and four women were recruited to participate in
the study. Sixty-three of the women were from a drug and
alcohol inpatient treatment facility and those seeking
outpatient treatment in Dayton, OH. Forty-one additional
women were recruited from Bridgeway, INC, a community
mental health facility in Galesburg, IL.
61% of participants were Caucasian, 33% were African
American, 4% were Latina, and 2% characterized themselves
as “other.”
75% of women indicated they were “dating”, while 25% chose
“married.”
90% of women indicated their partner was male, while
10%indicated female.
Method continued
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Participants were administered measures of the
following variables in groups of about ten:
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Child abuse.
Adult physical abuse.
Numbing.
Alexithymia.
Chemical dependency.
Adult attachment.
Cognitive complexity/simplicity.
Interpersonal trust.
Results
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Some aspects of hypothesis 1 were supported:
– The experience of child abuse and some types of adult
abuse were significantly positively correlated with the
PTSD symptoms of numbing and alexithymia (see Table
1).
– However, mediational analyses were not run on numbing
and alexithymia as they did not meet preliminary criteria
to demonstrate mediation, (i.e., they were not related to
the Negotiation subscale of the adult abuse measure), but
a trend towards a relationship was uncovered.
Results continued
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The dismissive-avoidant attachment style was
significantly negatively correlated with both child abuse
and adult physical abuse.
– Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to
test the hypothesis that the dismissive-avoidant
attachment style mediated the relationship between
child abuse and adult abuse (physical and
psychological aggression subscales), but this variable
did not meet the criteria to demonstrate mediation.
Table 1: Zero-Order Correlations
Between Study Variables
__________________________________________________________________
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Variable
Domestic Abuse Subscales
Child Abuse
Neg
Inj
Sex Coerc Phys Ass
Psych Agg
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Cog
-.06
Comp
Drug
.12
Abuse
Alc
.10
Abuse
Mistrust -.02
Numb .42**
Alex
.25*
Att,
-.27**
Sec.
Att,
.10
Fear
Att,
.08
Preo
Att,
-.30**
Dis
.01
-.10
.04
-.13
-.14
-.16
.23*
.17
.19
-.03
-.17
.07
.07
.03
-.07
-.04
.00
.11
.00
.00
.05
.23*
-.13
-.10
.11
. 07
-.10
.17
-.03
.00
.07
-.20
.14
-.02
.03
-.10
-.15
.00
-.08
-.21*
-.00
.09
-.23**
-.24*
-.03
-.31**
-.00
-.06
-.17
-.21*
Discussion
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Consistent with previous research, child abuse was
significantly, positively correlated with the experience of
domestic violence as an adult.
In addition, some of the proposed mediators were related to
child abuse or subscales of the adult physical abuse scale.
– Numbing and alexithymia were positively related to both.
– The secure attachment style was negatively related to
child abuse.
Consistent with past research, a major aspect of the
psychological sequelae of childhood abuse is symptoms of
emotional dysregulation and disruption in object relations
(Cloitre, 1998).
Discussion continued
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The dismissive-avoidant attachment style was significantly
negatively correlated with both child abuse and adult
physical abuse.
This is consistent with past research in that studies have
found that prototypical dismissive-avoidant women are likely
to have a more positive view of self and engage in selfprotective behaviors (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991).
Discussion continued
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However, support for hypothesis 2 was not found as no
variable in the study met all criteria outlined by Baron and
Kenny (1986) to demonstrate full mediation. There are
possible reasons for this:
– Other factors play a more important role in physical
revictimization.
● Social learning model.
● Psychoanalytic theories.
– Sexual and physical abuse revictimization distinct from
one another.
Discussion continued
Limitations of the current research include:
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Larger sample needed.
Difference in demographics and pathology of
participants.
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Length of questionnaire.
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Reading level of participants.
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Future studies could look at role of complex PTSD.