Citation

Bogolyubova O, Tikhonov R, Ivanov V, Panicheva P, Ledovaya Y. J. Interpers. Violence 2017; ePub(ePub): 886260517698279.

Affiliation

Saint Petersburg State University, Russia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886260517698279

PMID

29294670

Abstract

Exposure to violence has been shown to negatively affect mental health and well-being. The goal of this Facebook-based study was to describe the rates of exposure to violence in a sample of Russian adults and to assess the impact of these experiences on subjective well-being and victimization-related psychological distress. Three types of victimization were assessed: physical assault by a stranger, physical assault by someone known to victim, and nonconsensual sexual experiences. The 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) was used to assess subjective well-being, and Primary Care PTSD Screen (PC-PTSD) was employed as an indicator of victimization-related psychological distress. Data were obtained from 6,724 Russian-speaking Facebook users. Significant levels of lifetime victimization were reported by the study participants. Lifetime physical assault by a stranger, physical assault by someone known to victim, and sexual assault were reported by 56.9%, 64.2%, and 54.1% of respondents, respectively. Respondents exposed to violence were more likely to report posttraumatic stress symptoms and lower levels of subjective well-being. Participants who were exposed to at least one type of violence were more likely to experience symptoms of traumatic stress ( U = 1,794,250.50, p <.001, d = 0.35). Exposure to multiple forms of violence was associated with more severe traumatic stress symptoms ( rs =.257, p <.001). Well-being scores were significantly lower among participants exposed to violence ( t = 8.37, p <.001, d = 0.31). The study demonstrated that violence exposure is associated with reduced well-being among Russian adults. Our findings highlight the negative impact of violence exposure on subjective well-being and underscore the necessity to develop programs addressing violence exposure in Russian populations.

Language: en

Keywords

Facebook; PTSD; Russia; subjective well-being; traumatic stress; violence exposure