Women's Mental Health Issues

No abstract available for this article.     

A Social Perspective on Women's Mental Health Problems

No abstract available for this article.     

Example

No abstract available for this article.     

On advancing behavior analysis in the treatment and prevention of battering: Commentary on Myers

MYERS OFFERS AN IMPORTANT CHALLENGE TO BEHAVIOR ANALYSTS: eliminating the battering of women. In this commentary, we extend the conceptual model advocated by Myers, urge a bidirectional approach that focuses more on the battered woman and less on the battering man, caution against the indiscriminate use of marital therapy approaches, and argue that the most important contributions in the field may come from behavioral prevention rather than treatment interventions.     

The credibility of sexual abuse allegations: Child sexual abuse, adult rape, and sexual harassment

Allegations and denials of sexual abuse often occur in a context in which there is rarely decisive evidence. The present study investigated the credibility of allegations of three kinds of sexual abuse—child sexual abuse, adult rape, and sexual harassment—that also contained a denial by the alleged perpetrator. Perceptions of fair punishment were investigated for the perpetrator if he did actually commit these acts and for the accuser if she was lying. Results indicated that allegations were generally rated in the credible direction. Allegations of child sexual abuse were rated more credible than allegations of rape or sexual harassment. Females found all allegations more credible than males. Males were more likely to believe allegations in the child sexual abuse condition than either the rape or sexual harassment conditions. Females were more likely to believe sexual harassment allegations. Punishments were generally the most severe for child sexual abuse, and psychotherapy was a popular disposition for both perpetrators and those making false allegations.     

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Adulthood Parenting: The Mediating Role of Intimate Partner Violence

This study examined the role of intimate partner victimization in mediating the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and adulthood parenting in a community sample of mothers reliant on public assistance (N = 483). Baron and Kenny's (1986 Baron, R. M. and Kenny, D. A. 1986. The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51: 1173–1182. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) method for establishing mediation was used to address this question. A recent history of intimate partner violence mediated the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and psychological aggression; however, a lifetime history of intimate partner violence did not. Depressive symptomatology was found to mediate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and parental warmth. The impact of childhood sexual abuse on corporal punishment was indirect through its association with childhood physical abuse and witnessing domestic violence. Implications for research, theory development, and practice are provided.     

Mental Health Professionals' Perceptions of Women's Experiences of Family Violence

This study explored perceptions of 92 mental health professionals regarding violent families. They were asked to answer the questions on the Family Environment Scale as they thought women who lived in homes where they and their children were physically and/or psychologically abused would respond. Their scores were compared to those of 28 mothers in battered women's shelters. They differed significantly in their perceptions of violent family dynamics with regard to levels of cohesion, expressiveness, independence, intellectual-cultural orientation, active-recreational emphasis, and moral-religious emphasis. They believed the women to have lower levels on these constructs than the women actually reported. Implications suggest that mental health professionals could be more aware of the dynamics of violent families in order to efficiently uncover the violence during therapy sessions and provide appropriate services.     

Sexual Coercion,Trauma, and Sex Work in Justice-Involved Women with Substance Use Disorders

Sexual victimization is associated with mental health problems, trauma, substance use, and incarceration. We recruited 200 formerly incarcerated women with substance use disorders in Chicago. We examined whether empowerment moderates relationships between trauma symptoms, trading sex, and being forced to have sex. There was a significant 3-way interaction among sexual coercion, trading, and empowerment scores on trauma symptoms. For women who have not traded sex, lower levels of empowerment were associated with a larger difference in trauma symptoms between women who have been coerced or traded sex. For women who had been coerced, lower levels of empowerment were associated with a larger difference in trauma symptomatology between those who have traded sex or not. Promoting empowerment in sexually traumatized women might reduce the harm that results from being victimized. Furthermore, providing interventions that educate women regarding gender and cultural roles could help women avoid situations that result in exploitation.     

There's a Stranger in This House

Abstract

Although more researchers are investigating violence in lesbian relationships, they continue to neglect the experiences of African American lesbians. The purpose of this article is to describe the experience of a battered African American lesbian and to offer suggestions for intervention, which include techniques for addressing homophobia, providing appropriate referrals, and culturally sensitive treatment.     

Disability in Female Immigrants with Ritually Inflicted Genital Mutation

There have been 200,000 immigrants to the United States from African and Arab countries in the past decade that practice extensively disabling ritual genital mutilation. many of these women are severely disabled not only by the social constraints placed upon them by their culture, but by chronic pain syndrome and mobility impairment. They only rarely present at conventional medical facilities, being prevented from doing so by protective/dominant men, and further by the fact that they have little or no expectation that their specialized medical problems will be either understood or dealth with compassionately. The disabling immediate and long term medical consequences of female genital mutilation are described, most particularly in relation to menstruation and childbirth. Its significance as a social phenomenon is explained in historical terms and in terms of the values of the societies in which it is tenaciously entrenched. The question of how a working relationship with these immigrant women may be established is discussed.     

Refusing to be Marginalized: Groupwork in Mental Health Services for Women Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Childhood sexual abuse is a major aetiological factor in the development of mental health difficulties experienced by women. Although this conclusion is supported by two decades of extensive research, it has had little impact on the provision of mainstream mental health services. It remains exceptional for there to be specialist therapy or counselling provision for women survivors of childhood sexual abuse within statutory mental health services. This represents a serious gap in service provision and, it is argued, results in extended and inappropriate treatment for women survivors using mental health services. In this article, the development of a multi-agency approach to the provision of groupwork for women survivors of childhood sexual abuse within mental health service is described. A women-centred model of groupwork is outlined. Evaluation and funding are discussed. It is argued that, as a time-limited and effective treatment option, groupwork for women survivors of childhood sexual abuse should form a central part of service provision within statutory adult mental health services.     

Research Concerning Wife Abuse

SUMMARY

Violence toward women has been declared a public health epidemic. To date, research on battered women in medical settings has focused primarily on incidence and prevalence and on identification of risk markers. Such research also has elucidated low rates of battered women identified in medical settings, as well as barriers to such identification. Methods of training physicians to identify and help battered women are described in the present article. The unique role of psychologists and other mental health professionals in designing and evaluating such programs is discussed.     

Women and Mental Health

No abstract available for this article.     

Coping with Intimate Partner Violence: Battered Women's Use and Perceived Helpfulness of Emotion-Focused Coping Strategies

This study investigated intimate partner violence (IPV) victims' emotion-focused coping efforts, as well as their retrospective ratings of the perceived helpfulness of these efforts, in the context of a longitudinal study of battered women's experiences over time. Four hundred and six primarily African American, low-income battered women who had experienced IPV within the previous 12 months were interviewed. Patterns of coping use and perceived helpfulness were explored. The correlation between prevalence of use of emotion-focused coping strategies and perceived helpfulness of these strategies was examined, and results showed that the strategies used by more battered women were less helpful in dealing with feelings about abuse. Implications for clinical interventions with battered women are discussed.     

Women with Children in Violent Relationships

Summary

Custody issues for battered women means continuing involvement with a violent, abusive, intimidating partner. This article explores the continuing power and control dynamics of the domestic violence relationship after the woman with children leaves, and presents some preliminary findings. The custody of the children, visitation and financial arrangements often become the basis of terrorism as the man attempts to continue to control the woman's behavior with threats against the children. Fear of losing her children may force a woman to stay in a violent relationship, or return in spite of danger to her children and herself. On the other hand, the history of violence may make it difficult for the mother to cooperate with the court orders regarding joint custody or visitation even when safety appears not to be an issue. It is important for professionals working with children of violent families to understand the continuing effects of domestic violence after separation in order to provide assistance to children “caught in the middle” in custody disputes.     

Childhood Abuse,Head Injuries,and Use of Medical Emergency Services in People with Severe Mental Illness

People with severe mental illness (SMI) report high rates of traumatic experiences. This study analyzes data collected from 183 people diagnosed with SMI on reports of childhood trauma, head injuries, and emergency room (ER) services. More than half the cohort (56.7%) reported 3 to 7 cooccurring categories of childhood abuse (CAB). People who reported 6 and 7 categories of CAB had a 5-fold risk of experiencing a head injury. If they have used the ER for reasons other than psychiatric illness they endorse more traumatic experiences in their childhood when compared to those who did not. People with SMI and cooccurring CAB experiences might be predisposed to a higher risk of head injuries and more frequent use of the ER.     

Treating the Sexual Concerns of Adult Incest Survivors and Their Partners

SUMMARY

Negative attitudes about sex and sexuality and many types of sexual dysfunction are common aftereffects of sexual child abuse and incest. The traumatic sexualization and the aversive sexual conditioning resulting from childhood abuse have long gone unrecognized, however. This article presents research findings regarding the impact of incest on sexual attitudes and functioning along with treatment recommendations.