The differential effects of intimate terrorism and situational couple violence on mental health outcomes among abused Chinese women: a mixed-method study

Agnes Tiwari, Ko Ling Chan, Denise Shuk Ting Cheung, Daniel Yee Tak Fong, Elsie Chau Wai Yan, Debbie Hoi Ming Tang, Agnes Tiwari, Ko Ling Chan, Denise Shuk Ting Cheung, Daniel Yee Tak Fong, Elsie Chau Wai Yan, Debbie Hoi Ming Tang

Abstract

Background: Distinctions have been made between the two main forms of intimate partner violence: intimate terrorism (IT) and situational couple violence (SCV), depending on whether the violence is part of a general pattern of control. Differential effects also exist between IT and SCV. However, the IT/SCV distinction and their differential effects have yet to be demonstrated in violent intimate relationships in China. We aimed to identify IT and SCV among Chinese women who reported partner violence in Hong Kong and to differentiate the effects of IT and SCV on their mental health outcomes.

Methods: A mixed-method design was used in a cross-sectional study to collect quantitative and qualitative data from women 18 years of age or older who had been victims of intimate partner violence in the past year. Six hundred and thirteen women were recruited from 18 districts in Hong Kong. Quantitative instruments were administered to assess intimate partner violence, control by an intimate partner, and mental health outcomes. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with 200 of the women to capture their experiences of intimate partner violence and the context in which it occurred.

Results: Of the 613 women, 215 (35.1%) were identified as victims of IT and 324 (52.9%) as victims of SCV. Compared to SCV victims, IT victims reported significantly more violence-related physical injury (p < 0.001), higher use of medical services (p < 0.001), and more symptoms of depression (p < 0.001) and posttraumatic stress disorder (p < 0.001). The interviews revealed two broadly different pictures with IT victims describing their relationship problems as serious and life-threatening, and physical violence was part of the controlling behaviors used by their partners. Such details were not reported by those in the SCV group.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that violence in intimate relationships in China is not a unitary phenomenon, and it has at least two forms, IT and SCV, which were shown to have differential effects on Chinese women. The findings regarding the IT/SCV distinction and their differential effects on mental health outcomes have implications for policy, research and practice.

Trial registration: Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01206192.

References

    1. Breiding MJ, Chen J, Black MC. Intimate Partner Violence in the United States — 2010. In. Atlanta, Georgia: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2014.
    1. WHO Pan American Health Organization. Understanding and Addressing Violence Against Women. World Health Organization; 2012.
    1. Cron T. The surgeon General’s workshop on violence and public health: review of the recommendations. Public Health Rep. 1986;101(1):8–14.
    1. Garcia-Moreno C, Jansen HAFM, Ellsberg M, Heise L, Watts C. WHO Multi-Country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2005.
    1. Rothman EF, Butchart A, Cerdá M. Intervening With Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: A Global Perspective. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2003.
    1. Lois James L, Brody D, Hamilton Z. Risk factors for domestic violence during pregnancy: A meta-analytic review. Violence Vict. 2013;28(3):359–80. doi: 10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-12-00034.
    1. Johnson MP, Ferraro KJ. Research on domestic violence in the 1990s: making distinctions. J Marriage Family. 1990;2000(62):948–63.
    1. Straus MA. Thirty years of denying the evidence on gender symmetry in partner violence: Implications for prevention and treatment. Partner Abuse. 2010;1(4):332–62. doi: 10.1891/1946-6560.1.3.332.
    1. Johnson MP. A Typology of Domestic Violence: Intimate Terrorism, Violent Resistance, and Situational Couple Violence. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press; 2008.
    1. Johnson MP, Leone JM. The differential effects of Intimate Terrorism and Situational Couple Violence: Findings from the national violence against women survey. J Fam Issues. 2005;26(3):322–49. doi: 10.1177/0192513X04270345.
    1. Graham-Kevan N, Archer J. Intimate terrorism and common couple violence: a test of Johnson’s predictions in four British samples. J Interpers Violence. 2003;18:1247–70. doi: 10.1177/0886260503256656.
    1. Leone JM, Johnson MP, Cohan CM, Lloyd S. Consequences of male partner violence for low-income minoritywomen. J Marriage Fam. 2004;66:471–89.
    1. Straus MA, Gozjolko KL. Intimate Terrorism and Injury of Dating Partners hy Male and Female University Students. Stockholm, Sweden: Stockholm Criminology Prize Symposium; 2007.
    1. Leone JM. Suicidal behavior among low-income, African American female victims of intimate terrorism and situational couple violence. J Interpers Violence. 2011;26(13):2568–91. doi: 10.1177/0886260510388280.
    1. Anderson KL. Is partner violence worse in the context of control? J Marriage Fam. 2008;70(5):1157–68. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00557.x.
    1. Graham-Kevan N, Archer J. Control tactics and partner violence in heterosexual relationships. Evol Hum Behav. 2009;30(6):445–52. doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.06.007.
    1. Tiwari A, Fong DYT, Chan KL, Yan ECW, Tang DHM, Lam GLL, et al. Evaluating the Chinese Revised Controlling Behaviors Scale (C-CBS-R). J Interpers Violence. In press.
    1. Tiwari A, Wong JYH, Fong DYT, Chan EKL, Leung WC, Brownridge DA, et al. Intimate partner violence in obstetric/gynecology patients: A Chinese perspective. Expert Review Obstet Gynecol. 2008;3(3):317–30. doi: 10.1586/17474108.3.3.317.
    1. Chan KL. Intimate partner violence in Chinese societies. Family Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly. 2011;4(2):131–63.
    1. Tang C, Lee A, Cheung F. Violence Against Women in Hong Kong. In: Cheung F, Karlekar M, De Dios A, Vichit-Vadakan J, editors. Breaking the Silence: Violence Against Women in Asia. Quisumbing. Hong Kong: Equal Opportunities Commission; 1999. pp. 38–58.
    1. Cohen J. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. 2. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum; 1988.
    1. Faul F, Erdfelder E, Lang A-G, Buchner A. G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behav Res Methods. 2007;39:175–91. doi: 10.3758/BF03193146.
    1. Tiwari A, Fong DYT, Chan KL, Leung WC, Parker B, Ho PC. Identifying intimate partner violence: comparing the Chinese abuse assessment screen with the Chinese revised conflict tactics scales. BJOG. 2007;114:1065–71. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2007.01441.x.
    1. Chan KL, Brownridge DA, Tiwari A, Fong DYT, Leung WC. Understanding violence against Chinese women in Hong Kong an analysis of risk factors with a special emphasis on the role of in-law conflict. Violence Against Women. 2008;14(11):1295–312. doi: 10.1177/1077801208325088.
    1. Society CBS. The Chinese version of the Beck Depression Inventory, 2nd edn, Licensed Chinese Translation. New York: The Psychological Corporation; 2000.
    1. Byrne BM, Stewart SM, Lee PWH. Validating the beck depression inventory-II for Hong Kong community adolescents. Int J Test. 2004;4:199–216. doi: 10.1207/s15327574ijt0403_1.
    1. Wu KK, Chan SK, Yiu VF. Psychometric properties and confirmatory factor analysis of the posttraumatic stress disorder checklist for Chinese survivors of road traffic accidents. Hong Kong J Psychiatry. 2008;18(4):144–55.
    1. Tiwari A, Yuen KH. Psychological abuse in Chinese women: A qualitative study. Family Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly. 2010;2(4):293–302.
    1. Streubert HJ, Carpenter DR. Qualitative Research in Nursing: Advancing the Humanistic Imperative. 5. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health & Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2011.
    1. Johnson MP. Conflict and Control: Gender Symmetry and Asymmetry in Domestic Violence. Violence Against Women. 2006;12:1003–18. doi: 10.1177/1077801206293328.
    1. Johnson MP. Patriarchal terrorism and common couple violence: Two forms of violence against women. J Marriage Family. 1995;57(2):283–94. doi: 10.2307/353683.
    1. Frye V, Manganello J, Campbell J, Walton-Moss B, Wilt S. The distribution of and factors associated with intimate terrorism and situational couple violence among a population-based sample of urban women in the united states. J Interpersonal Violenc. 2006;21(10):1286–313. doi: 10.1177/0886260506291658.
    1. Tiwari A, Wong J, Brownridge DA, Chan KL, Fong DYT, Leung WC, et al. Psychological intimate partner abuse among Chinese women: What we know and what we still need to know. Open Soc Sci J. 2009;2:32–6. doi: 10.2174/1874945300902010032.
    1. World Health Organization, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine . Preventing Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Against Women: Taking Action and Generating Evidence. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2010.
    1. Campbell JC. Prediction of Homicide of and by Battered Women. In: Campbell JC, editor. Assessing Dangerousness: Violence by Batterers and Child Abusers. 2. New York: Springer Publishing Company; 2007.

Source: PubMed

Sponsorer og samarbejdspartnere

Medicinske tilstande

Narkotikainterventioner

3
Abonner