NCJ Number
112340
Date Published
1987
Length
35 pages
Annotation
A total of 145 women college students completed a questionnaire packet designed to explore the relationships between abuse, social support, and psychological health in the context of dating relationships.
Abstract
The study assessed a theoretical model which presumes that abuse occurring in an intimate relationship and the degree to which women feel supported by family and friends will each contribute significantly to the amount of variance in measures of psychological well-being. The questionnaire packet included a background questionnaire, measures of relationship abuse, social support, self-esteem, and psychological distress. Multiple regression equations were used to determine what proportion of the variance in psychological distress and self-esteem scores were accounted for by the abuse and social support variables. Separate regression equations were run for each criterion variable. Approximately 20 percent of the women reported current involvement in a dating relationship in which at least one violent act had been committed against them by their partner. Almost 7 out of 10 women reported personal knowledge of violence in the dating relationships of their peers. The hypothesized role of social support in moderating the relationship between violence and psychological distress could not be adequately tested. Apparently, however, violence may function to alter the role or meaning of social support for women in intimate relationships. The abuse-support-interaction equation was fairly powerful for predicting subjects' distress and self-esteem. 15 tables and 17-item selected bibliography.