The proposed study will continue a program of research aimed at empirically examing those variables theorized to affect the psychological health and well-being of women attempting to leave abusive partners. The study includes a longitudinal, experimental design, and will employ multi-method strategies to measure level of physical and psychological battering, depression, self-efficacy, locus of control, fear and anxiety, community resources, social support and psychological well-being over a two-year period following residence at a battered women's shelter. In order to examine hypothesized causal and correlative relationships, the effects of an intervention designed to help women mobilize community resources and social support will be examined. It is hypothesized that the increase in community resources and social support will lead to increased psychological health and well-being, as well as less abuse. The research utilizes a factorial design with two independent variables--time and the two levels of experimental condition. Interview outcome measures will be collected at six points--time zero, 10-weeks (post-intervention), 6-months, 12-months, 18-months, and 24-months. Archival data will also be collected from 1) the battered women's shelter, 2) the intervention agents' written weekly records, 3) police records, and 4) court records. This study will also examine the relationship between the following variables both within and across the six assessment periods: 1) depression, 2) self-efficacy, 3) locus of control, 4) fear and anxiety, 5) access to community resources and social support, 6) physical and psychological abuse, and 7) psychological well-being. Within the time period, the concurrent relationships among the variables will be examined. By also examining these relationships across time through path modeling, the potential causal ordering can begin to be examined. Funding is being requested to continue this research study for five years. The additional participants generated (projected N=160) will increase power in order to conduct meaningful within-and between- group analyses.
