When Abused Women Decide to Seek Help From a Victims Assistance Program: Their Perceived Needs and Self-Reported

Cecilia Mengo1, Christine Gidycz2

  • 1The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

Violence and Victims
|August 17, 2019
PubMed

This study examines the nature of perceived needs of women victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and their association with social demographic characteristics and self-reported mental health symptoms. The study uses data from case records of women victims of IPV (n = 154) seeking help from a victim assistance program housed within city police station located in the southwest, United States. The majority of the women in this study reported needs related to counseling, protection orders, Crime Victims' Compensation Rights, legal services, and Temporary Aid for Needy Families. Findings also indicate that perceived needs of women were significantly associated with self-reported mental health symptoms. Some needs had a stronger relationship to women's mental health symptoms than others. Overall these findings suggest that it is imperative to emphasize responses that can address all the needs of women (in addition to stopping IPV) to reduce mental health symptoms.

Related Concept Videos

Stress and Mental Health01:30

Stress and Mental Health

Chronic stress profoundly affects mental health, significantly influencing mood, behavior, and overall quality of life. Research closely links chronic stress with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. Ongoing exposure to stress can lead to physiological and psychological changes, initiating a cycle of emotional distress and maladaptive coping mechanisms.
Individuals with depression often experience challenges in both their personal and professional...
827
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location01:21

Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location

The human brain perceives pitch through two primary mechanisms reflected in place theory and frequency theory. Each mechanism describes how sound waves are interpreted as specific pitches by the brain, offering insights into the intricate processes of auditory perception.
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by...
946
Data Reporting and Recording01:24

Data Reporting and Recording

Reporting and recording are crucial in data documentation. The timely, thorough, and accurate documentation of facts is essential when recording patient data. Failure to record findings during an assessment or interpretation of a problem will result in loss of information and make the patient document unreliable. The reader is left with general impressions if the information is not specific. A recording is documenting data of the individual's health information in a traceable, secure, and...
5.3K
Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena01:15

Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena

Drug dependence, abuse, and addiction are complex phenomena that can precipitate various abnormal states. Physical dependence refers to a state of pharmacological adaptation to a drug. This adaptation often results in tolerance—a reduced response to the drug after repeated administrations. When the drug use is abruptly stopped, withdrawal symptoms occur due to the body's need to readjust from the pharmacologically induced imbalance. However, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms do not...
1.2K
Design Example: Deciding Thickness of Lubricating Fluid in a Shaft01:23

Design Example: Deciding Thickness of Lubricating Fluid in a Shaft

Effective lubrication between a rotating shaft and its bearing housing is essential in rotating machinery to minimize friction, wear, and energy loss. With carefully controlled thickness and viscosity, the lubricant layer prevents metal-to-metal contact, ensuring smooth operation.
To calculate the required thickness of the lubricant layer, the tangential velocity at the shaft's surface must first be determined. This velocity is calculated by converting the rotational speed to angular velocity...
332
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language01:10

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Language is a system of communication that allows the expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The brain processes language in both hemispheres.
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
3.5K