Longitudinal Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence, Risk, Well-Being, and Employment: Preliminary Findings (From Violence Against Women and Family Violence: Developments in Research, Practice, and Policy, 2004, Bonnie Fisher, ed. -- See NCJ-199701)

• NCJ Number: 199715
• Author(s): Mary Ann. Dutton, Lisa A. Goodman, Dorothy J. Lennig, Jane C. Murphy
• Date Published: January 2004
• Length: 12 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

This study examined trajectories of intimate partner violence over time among women who sought support services for such abuse, including women's subjective appraisal of risk.

Abstract

Over 7 months (June 1999 to January 2000), researchers recruited 406 women from 1 of 3 sites in a northeastern city at the point they were seeking help for violence against them by a current or former male partner. Intimate partner violence was measured with a modified version of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale. Some form of serious violence during the previous year was reported by 88 percent of the participants. By the first 3-month follow-up period, nearly one-third of the participants reported the recurrence of some form of physical violence; 20.4 percent reported an injury; and 18.1 percent reported sexual abuse. Stalking between time 1 and time 2 was reported by 46.9 percent of participants. By the 1-year follow-up, 38.8 percent of participants reported at least some recurrence of physical violence within the past year. At time 1, a significant number of participants indicated their level of risk for future violence as high. Overall, results suggest different trajectories for violence and abuse following participants' involvement with community and legal system interventions. Mean scores on each of the measures of well-being showed an overall improvement in reported quality of life at time 2 compared to time 1. An overall mean decrease in reported depressive symptoms was observed; however, this progress was not uniform. There was a slight increase in employment among the women over the 1-year period. In showing different patterns of revictimization across different types of intimate partner violence acts (physical violence, sexual abuse, and stalking), this suggests to researchers the importance of including all these categories of intimate partner violence in their protocols. Implications of the findings are also drawn for practitioners. 2 exhibits and 15 references