Examining the Psychometric Properties of the Revised Scale of Economic Abuse among Iranian Women.

Economic abuse, in the context of intimate relationships, is a pervasive form of violence that merits further empirical attention. We know from limited research that the rates of economic abuse appear to be high in Iran; however, there is a lack of culturally appropriate measures that can assess the extent to which women experience economic harm as a result of their partners' actions. The present study was conducted with the aims of (a) investigating the psychometric properties of the 14-item Revised Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA2) which was translated into Persian for this study and (b) examining the prevalence of economic abuse among a sample of 371 married housewives in Qazvin, Iran. Confirmatory factor analysis supports the two-factor structure of the SEA2, with the exception of one item. Composite reliability and Cronbach's alpha demonstrated good internal consistency. The average variance extracted method, along with correlations with other financial variables, demonstrated evidence of good convergent validity. Correlations with related, but distinct forms of abuse, support the scale's discriminant validity. Based on the collective findings, this measure can be used as a reliable and valid tool to study economic abuse among Iranian women which, within our sample, appears to be a common phenomenon. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

An Exploratory Study of Financial Health as an Antecedent of Economic Abuse Among Women Seeking Help for Intimate Partner Violence.

Economic abuse is a common component of intimate partner violence (IPV). This study explored whether IPV victim and perpetrator financial health at relationship outset are associated with two types of economic abuse-restriction and exploitation-during the relationship. With a sample of 315 women seeking services for male-perpetrated IPV, the study showed increased use of economic restriction when perpetrators were advantaged in terms of assets or disadvantaged in terms of debt. There was increased use of economic exploitation when victims were advantaged in terms of assets or credit and when perpetrators were disadvantaged in terms of assets, debt, or credit. Implications for research and intervention are discussed.

Evidence of the Construct Validity of the Scale of Economic Abuse.

This study investigated the construct validity of the Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA). Evidence of construct validity was assessed by examining the relationship between the SEA and an economic outcome, financial resources, as perceived by participants. A sample of 93 women with abusive partners were recruited from a domestic violence organization and interviewed 3 times over a period of 4 months. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the relationship between economic abuse and financial resources over time, controlling for the effects of physical and psychological abuse. The findings indicate that baseline economic abuse was significantly related to baseline financial resources, and within-woman change in economic abuse was significantly predicted change in financial resources over time. The findings suggest that the SEA measures what it is intended to measure: an economic dimension of intimate partner abuse that has damaging economic consequences.

Beyond deficits: intimate partner violence, maternal parenting, and child behavior over time.

Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) has negative consequences for children's well-being and behavior. Much of the research on parenting in the context of IPV has focused on whether and how IPV victimization may negatively shape maternal parenting, and how parenting may in turn negatively influence child behavior, resulting in a deficit model of mothering in the context of IPV. However, extant research has yet to untangle the interrelationships among the constructs and test whether the negative effects of IPV on child behavior are indeed attributable to IPV affecting mothers' parenting. The current study employed path analysis to examine the relationships among IPV, mothers' parenting practices, and their children's externalizing behaviors over three waves of data collection among a sample of 160 women with physically abusive partners. Findings indicate that women who reported higher levels of IPV also reported higher levels of behavior problems in their children at the next time point. When parenting practices were examined individually as mediators of the relationship between IPV and child behavior over time, one type of parenting was significant, such that higher IPV led to higher authoritative parenting and lower child behavior problems [corrected]. On the other hand, there was no evidence that higher levels of IPV contributed to more child behavior problems due to maternal parenting. Instead, IPV had a significant cumulative indirect effect on child behavior via the stability of both IPV and behavior over time. Implications for promoting women's and children's well-being in the context of IPV are discussed.

Comparing the validity of the K6 when assessing depression, anxiety, and PTSD among male and female jail detainees.

A lack of a consistent and valid approach to screening within the jail often hinders identification and treatment. Furthermore, screening instruments developed for jail populations are often inadequate in detecting serious depression and anxiety disorders in women. While the remedy thus far has been the use of separate screening instruments for men and women, others have suggested that the K6, a six-item measure validated in large epidemiologic studies, may hold promise. Building on prior research, this study assesses the validity of the K6 in detecting depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and anxiety disorders among 494 male and 515 female jail detainees. The authors found that 15% of males and 36% of females meet criteria for serious mental illness on the K6, with receiver operating characteristics--area under the curve scores of .84 and .93, respectively. This study not only establishes the validity and efficiency of using the K6 for screening within jails but also suggests a need for adjusting scale cut points.

The impact of neighborhood factors on the well-being of survivors of intimate partner violence over time.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive social problem impacting the psychological well-being of millions of US women annually. The extant literature draws our attention to the devastating mental health effects of IPV, but largely overlooks how ecological factors may further explain survivors' well-being. This study examined how neighborhood disadvantage may contribute to survivors' compromised well-being, in addition to the abuse women experienced. Neighborhood disorder and fear of victimization significantly impacted survivors' well-being, over and above abuse. Although between-women effects of neighborhood disorder and fear were unrelated to change in women's depression or quality of life (QOL), significant within-woman effects were detected. Change in neighborhood disorder was negatively associated with change in QOL, and this relationship was fully mediated by fear. While no direct relationship between change in neighborhood disorder and depression was detected, an indirect effect through survivors' fear was revealed. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Main, mediating, and moderating effects of social support on the well-being of survivors of intimate partner violence across 2 years.

Intimate partner violence is a serious and pervasive social problem with deleterious consequences for survivors' well-being. The current study involved interviewing 160 survivors 6 times over 2 years to examine the role of social support in explaining or buffering these negative psychological consequences. The authors examined both between- and within-persons variability to explore women's trajectories regarding their experiences of abuse, social support, depression, and quality of life (QOL). Findings revealed the complex role of social support on women's well-being. Evidence was found for main, mediating, and moderating effects of social support on women's well-being. First, social support was positively related to QOL and negatively related to depression. Social support also partially explained the effect of baseline level and subsequent change in physical abuse on QOL and depression over time, partially mediated the effects of change in psychological abuse, and moderated the impact of abuse on QOL. The buffering effects of social support were strongest at lower levels of abuse. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed.

Factors related to willingness to help survivors of intimate partner violence.

Although researchers have found that survivors of intimate partner violence seek support from a multitude of sources, ranging from professionals to informal support networks, little is known about the extent to which community members reach out to help survivors. This study explored the type of support provided to survivors and various factors that relate to individuals' willingness to help. Survivors were more likely to be helped by women, younger individuals, those who strongly endorsed criminal justice interventions for perpetrators, and those who perceived intimate partner violence as a frequently occurring issue in their communities. Two additional factors were found to relate to an individual's likelihood of assisting others, including witnessing intimate partner violence as a child and prior victimization. Further research is needed in this area to explore helper, survivor, and contextual characteristics that may affect one's likelihood to offer assistance to survivors.