Citation

Logan TK. J. Interpers. Violence 2018; ePub(ePub): 886260518802849.

Affiliation

University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886260518802849

PMID

30261809

Abstract

Safety efficacy, or the perceived capability of preventing or deterring a personal safety threat, has emerged as a potentially important construct in personal safety outcomes. However, there has been limited research on factors that may facilitate or inhibit safety efficacy. The overall goal of this study was to examine indices of past history, mind-set, and emotion regulation associated with safety efficacy as informed by the self-efficacy literature. This study used a national sample of 821 women who completed a survey on personal safety concerns and responses. There were four main findings from this study: (a) although victimization experiences in this study were high, there were no differences in past or recent victimization experiences by safety efficacy group; (b) responding passively and feeling uncomfortable and nervous in interpersonal conflict situations were significantly associated with lower safety efficacy; (c) those with lower safety efficacy felt less confident in protecting themselves, were less likely to feel they could affect the outcome of external events, were less likely to seek information about their personal safety, and were more likely to feel personal characteristics increased their risk of victimization; and (d) discomfort when thinking about personal safety as well as emotion regulation problems were negatively associated with safety efficacy, yet have received limited research attention with regard to their role in personal safety outcomes. More research is needed to build on the success of various interventions that have shown evidence of increased safety efficacy and decreased revictimization as well as to reach women who may actively avoid prevention programs because they are not comfortable thinking about their safety.

Language: en

Keywords

domestic violence; sexual assault; stalking; violence exposure