Psychological distress in non-Hispanic white and Hispanic abused women

Despite the increasing number of studies that have substantiated that women who have been abused are psychologically distressed, existing research has little focus on women from diverse ethnic backgrounds, and variables that may influence the development of psychological distress have yet to be examined. This study was conducted to examine the correlation of psychological distress with abuse and psychosocial factors in a sample of 62 White and 62 Hispanic abused women. A set of measures of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety showed that White women experienced a higher prevalence of psychological distress than Hispanics. Life changes significantly related to the severity of psychological distress, whereas exposure to abuse was not consistently associated with it. Implications for practice and research are discussed.