Citation

Decou CR, Lynch SM, Cole TT, Kaplan SP. J. Trauma. Stress 2015; 28(5): 465-468.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.22034

PMID

26366884

Abstract

Previous research indicates self-efficacy may function as a protective factor for survivors of partner violence (PV), including coping self-efficacy specific to domestic violence. We hypothesized that domestic violence coping self-efficacy would moderate the association between recent PV and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a sample of incarcerated women, such that the association between PV and PTSD would be strongest at low levels of domestic violence coping self-efficacy. Participants (N = 102) were incarcerated women who reported PV in the year prior to incarceration. They were aged 19-55 years (M = 33.57, SD = 9.32), identified predominantly as European American (84.3%), American Indian (15.7%), and Hispanic (14.7%), with 80.4% completing high school or more in terms of education. Participants responded to self-report measures of PV, trauma history, domestic violence coping self-efficacy, and current PTSD symptoms. In a series of sequential regression analyses, PV (β =.65, sr(2) =.06, p =.017) was significantly associated with current PTSD symptoms above and beyond past trauma history (β =.37, sr(2) =.14, p <.001), and this association was moderated by domestic violence coping self-efficacy (Domestic Violence Coping Self-Efficacy × Partner Violence; β = -.54, sr(2) =.03, p =.044). The relationship between PV and PTSD symptoms was greatest at low and average levels of domestic violence coping self-efficacy and nonsignificant at high levels of domestic violence coping self-efficacy. These findings highlight the importance of assessing domestic violence coping self-efficacy in incarcerated women with recent PV, given that domestic violence coping self-efficacy appeared to be protective against symptoms of PTSD.

Language: en