Relation of Criminal Victimization to Health Perceptions Among Women Medical Patients

• NCJ Number: 154660
• Journal: Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Volume: 58 Issue: 2 Dated: (1990) Pages: 147-152
• Author(s): M P Koss; W J Woodruff; P G Koss
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 8 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: NIJ Reprint Series

Annotation

Based on survey responses from 2,291 women medical patients, 57 percent of whom had been victims of crime, this study examined the relation of criminal victimization to health perceptions. Reliability of findings was evaluated by assessing 241 respondents both by survey and by interview.

Abstract

Twenty-one percent of the women had experienced completed rape. Crime victimizations were linked to lowered perceptions of health using a conservative analysis that estimated the predictive power of victimization severity that was uncorrelated with demographics and other stressful life events. The results showed that crime victimization made a unique contribution to the prediction of current health status over and above the contribution of other variables with proven links to illness. 2 tables and 35 references