The broad, long-term objective of this research is to develop a knowledge base that would influence practice and policy for the prevention and treatment of substance use among women who experience posttraumatic stress symptomatology related to intimate partner violence (IPV). An initial objective of this project is to document, in a community sample of women, the comorbidity of substance use disorders and PTSD that results from IPV. A second objective is to test a series of hypotheses that examine the relationships of selected risk and protective factors to posttraumatic stress symptomatology related to IPV, and substance use. A third objective is to explore the extent to which DSM-IV IPV-PTSD symptom clusters differentially predict substance use, and how these relationships are mediated by risk and protective factors. This project is organized by four aims; a) to document the prevalence of substance use disorders and IPV-PTSD among women currently experiencing IPV, to determine their rate of comorbidity, and to examine the relationship of IPV-posttraumatic stress symptom severity to substance use; b) to test a model of the mediating effects of IPV-posttraumatic stress symptom severity on the relationship between selected risk factors and substance use; c) to test a model of risk and protective factors to examine the extent to which these factors mediate the relationship between IPV-posttraumatic stress symptom severity and substance use; and d) to test a model of DSM-IV PTSD symptom clusters to determine whether they differentially predict substance use, and if these relationships are mediated by risk and protective factors. Path analysis will be utilized to test the direct and potentially mediating effects of the study variables among a sample of 200 community women who currently are experiencing violence in their intimate relationships. Risk and protective factors to be examined include childhood abuse, family history of substance use, previous relationship trauma, current relationship violence, active and avoidance coping, behavioral treatment utilization, community resource utilization, and motivation to use substances. Data collection will be cross-sectional.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 17 publications
