With an estimated four million women experiencing severe or life threatening physical assaults by their intimate partners each year, a woman's risk of nonfatal, yet serious and repeated injuries by an intimate partner is astounding. Of all the different types of nonfatal injuries received, facial injuries may be one of the most common type of injuries within this population, comprising approximately 75 percent of all injuries. In spite of the sheer prevalence of this problem, the study of the psychological impact of these injuries has gone relatively unnoticed. In many ways, the devastation of these injuries may have been previously underestimated without examination of the psychological impact. This pilot study will spearhead a new and unexplored area of violence-related impact by examining the psychological meaning associated with violence-related injuries. In order to develop the most comprehensive pilot data, this study will include a qualitative and a quantitative assessment component. The qualitative component of the study will consist of four focus groups with a total of six women with a violence-related residual injury in each group. These groups will engage in an in-depth discussion of the impact of these injuries on the women's lives. Results from the qualitative data will be used to evaluate the relevance/scope of the proposed constructs in the quantitative assessment. The quantitative assessment component of the study will focus on an evaluation of 30 women presenting at outpatient intimate partner violence agencies or shelters, who have a violence-related residual physical injury (e.g. scar, change in skin coloring, limited range of motion) and are at least one month post-acute injury. These women will be compared with 30 women presenting for treatment at outpatient intimate partner violence agencies or shelters, who do not have a residual physical injury and who have not been injured in the past month. The primary objectives of the study include: 1) Exploration of the phenomenology of intimate partner violence-related residual injuries, 2) Development of objective, descriptive information on the types of residual injuries incurred by women victims of intimate partner violence, and 3) Evaluation of the unique psychosocial impact of violence-related injuries by comparing the two groups on measures of psychological/intrapersonal functioning (Body Image Disturbance, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, self-esteem and Identity, Core Cognitive Beliefs, Shame, Substance Use, and Depression), interpersonal functioning (Occupation and Social) and general physical functioning. Exploratory analyses will also be conducted to examine which aspects of residual injury may be differentially associated with specific types of psychological outcomes.
| Weaver, Terri L; Turner, Paaige K; Schwarze, Nicole et al. (2007) An exploratory examination of the meanings of residual injuries from intimate partner violence. Women Health 45:85-102 |
| Weaver, Terri L; Resnick, Heidi S; Kokoska, Mimi S et al. (2007) Appearance-related residual injury, posttraumatic stress, and body image: Associations within a sample of female victims of intimate partner violence. J Trauma Stress 20:999-1008 |
| Weaver, Terri L; Chard, Kathleen M; Mechanic, Mindy B et al. (2004) Self-injurious behaviors, PTSD arousal, and general health complaints within a treatment-seeking sample of sexually abused women. J Interpers Violence 19:558-75 |
| Weaver, Terri L; Etzel, Julie C (2003) Smoking patterns, symptoms of PTSD and depression: preliminary findings from a sample of severely battered women. Addict Behav 28:1665-79 |
