Psychological consequences and daily life adjustment for victims of intimate partner violence.

INTRODUCTION: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a distressing reality worldwide. Victims of IPV usually experience long-term mental health disorders and maladjustments in their daily lives. AIMS: To examine the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder in female victims of IPV that participated in a public mental health care program, and to analyze the relationships between the type of IPV exposure, its psychological consequences, and daily life adjustment. METHOD: Up to 164 female victims of IPV referred by their primary care doctors to the Adult Mental Health Casntre of Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona) between 2010 and 2016 were evaluated using several tests (Index of Spouse Abuse - ISA, Beck Depression Inventory - BDI-II, Sate-Trait Anxiety Inventory - STAI, the Maladjustment Scale - MS, and the Severity Symptom Scale for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder - EGS). RESULTS: Of the 164 referred women, 102 (62.2%) agreed to participate (mean age 44.98 years, range 19-71) and 73% scored above the cut-off point in the physical IPV dimension (ISA). Moreover, 73% had depression symptoms, 77% trait anxiety, and 87% state anxiety altered scores. Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder was also high (87%). IPV interfered significantly in all the aspects of the daily lives of 92% of the sample. CONCLUSIONS: The participants of the study experienced many psychological symptoms and a high level of interference with all aspects of their daily lives. These consequences were of similar magnitude amongst victims of emotional abuse compared to those who suffered physical violence.

Grupos de terapia para mujeres víctimas de violencia de género / Therapeutic groups for the female victims of gender violence

Introducción: El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar la efectividad de una intervención grupal cognitivo-conductual para mujeres que son o que han sido víctimas de violencia de género. Sujetos y método: Se aplicó un programa de 20 sesiones, de 90 min cada una, en 7 grupos de mujeres. Los grupos se reunían con una periodicidad semanal y eran de 6 a 8 participantes. Se aplicaron técnicas para reconstruir la autoestima y para incrementar la toma de conciencia sobre su situación de violencia. También se utilizaron técnicas de autocontrol emocional para tratar la ansiedad, la depresión y los síntomas de estrés. Además, se aplicaron técnicas de asertividad. Las evaluaciones se realizaron antes y después de la intervención. Pruebas administradas: entrevista estandarizada de recogida de datos, MMPI-versión breve, STAI, BDI y cuestionario de valoración de violencia. Resultados: En los grupos de terapia participaron 39 mujeres. La media de edad fue de 46,85 años. Habían sufrido violencia psicológica (100%), violencia de control (98,7%), violencia económica (82,1%), violencia física (74,4%) y violencia sexual (66,7%). Se aplicó el programa estadístico SPSS y se hizo un análisis con la prueba de la t de Student para muestras relacionadas. Se encontraron mejoras estadísticamente significativas en el STAI-R, el STAI-E y el BDI. En la escala MMPI se observaron mejoras estadísticamente significativas en depresión e histeria. No hubo cambios significativos en el resto de las subescalas; en todas ellas la tendencia de las puntuaciones fue a disminuir, excepto en la de paranoia y en la de manía, que fue a aumentar pero muy discretamente. La media de satisfacción personal de su participación en el grupo fue de 9,06 (1-10). Conclusiones: Los resultados indicaron que los grupos terapéuticos fueron una intervención efectiva para el tratamiento de mujeres víctimas de violencia de género. En relación al perfil clínico, mejoraron en depresión, ansiedad (rasgo y estado) e histeria. Las mujeres que participaron en los grupos se vieron subjetivamente beneficiadas de ellos

Introduction: To assess the efectiveness of a cognitive-behavioural group for women who are or have been victims of gender violence. Subjects and method: A 20 session programme of 90 minutes each was applied with seven groups of women. With a frequency of one session per week, 6 to 8 women participated in each group. A variety of psychological techniques were used to reconstruct the women's self esteem, increase their awareness of the violence situation and improve their anxiety levels, depression and stress. Additionally the women were trained in assertion techniques. A number of evaluations were made before and after the intervention. These included a standardized interview, the MMPI-brief version, the STAI, the BDI and an evaluation questionnaire for violence. Results: Thirty-nine women took part in this study. The mean age was 46.85. They had suffered psychological violence (100%), control violence (98.7%), economic violence (82.1%), physical violence (74.4%) and sexual violence (66.7%). SPSS was used to conduct T-test analysis for related samples. Significant improvements were found in STAI-T, STAI-S and BDI. In the depression and hysteria subscales of MMPI significant improvements were observed. There were no significant changes in other subscales; all of them tended to decrease except for the Pa, which tended to increase. The personal satisfaction mean for participation in the groups was 9.06 (1-10). Conclusions: The results showed that therapeutic groups were an effective intervention for wome who were victims of gender violence. Women participating in the study showed better depression, anxiety (state and trait) and hysteria outcomes, and reported a high subjective satisfaction with therapy (AU)