Battered women's perceptions of loss and health

J F Wang1, J McKinney

  • 1School of Nursing, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA.

The article reports a study investigating whether a positive relationship exists between a battered women's perceptions of loss and her perceptions of health. The study further investigated whether a period of time away from the abusive situation would change the battered women's perceptions of loss and her perceptions of health. A convenience sample of 20 women who had experienced battering and abuse and had sought help at a protective shelter was studied. Questionnaires on perception of loss, health response, and demographics were used for the collection of data. The findings indicated that a significant relationship exists between a battered women's perceptions of loss and her perception of health. Perceptions of loss and health were shown to decline after a period of 5 days away from the abusive situation. Additional qualitative data obtained from in-depth interviews were also found to be consistent with the quantitative results and supported the literature documented in this study.

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