For women experiencing partner violence, women health care visits represent opportunities for phy... more For women experiencing partner violence, women health care visits represent opportunities for physicians and patients to address intimate partner violence (IPV), a significant health threat for women. The objectives were to estimate rates of physician documentation of IPV in medical records; characterize IPV+ women most likely to have IPV documented; and determine whether IPV screening increased IPV documentation. Subjects were women ages 18-65 receiving primary care in two large family practice clinics. All were screened for IPV by study staff using a modified Index of Spouse Abuse and the Women's Experience with Battering scales. We selected and abstracted medical records for all women experiencing current IPV (N = 144) and a random sample of women never experiencing IPV (N = 147). Of 144 women screened as currently experiencing IPV, 14.7% were documented. Women most likely to have IPV documented were Caucasian, with higher WEB scores, and more likely to have an event that cou...
Many areas of women's health, including battering, suffer from conceptual and methodological ... more Many areas of women's health, including battering, suffer from conceptual and methodological deficits. This article uses the “measurement trap” (Graham & Campbell, 1991), a set of conditions defined by lack of information resulting from a narrow conceptualization of the problem, poor existing data sources, inappropriate outcome indicators, and limited measurement techniques, as a framework for describing how current approaches to conceptualizing and measuring battering hamper research and program efforts in the field of domestic violence. We then describe an alternative conceptualization-and-measurement approach that is based on battered women's experiences. We argue that an experiential approach, which grounds measurement in women's lived experiences, improves our ability to conduct research that correctly identifies, monitors, and explains the epidemiology of this phenomenon and provides a solid basis for policy and program development.
Three incoming freshmen classes of men provided data in a 5-year longitudinal study of the relati... more Three incoming freshmen classes of men provided data in a 5-year longitudinal study of the relationship between childhood victimization experiences and sexually coercive behaviors during adolescence and 4 years of college. A key finding of this study was that men who were physically punished, sexually abused, or who witnessed domestic violence in childhood were at greater risk for sexual perpetration in high school. Furthermore, men who perpetrated in high school were at greater risk for sexual perpetration in college; and after controlling for perpetration in high school, those who were abused or witnessed violence in childhood were not at greater risk for college perpetration. The findings have a number of implications for research and practice: We need to identify high-risk populations and direct more targeted interventions toward them. These groups include those who witness or experience abuse as a child and young men who perpetrate violence in adolescence, regardless of childho...
Objectives. We sought to determine the frequency of intimate partner violence by type in a large,... more Objectives. We sought to determine the frequency of intimate partner violence by type in a large, clinic-based, nurse-administered screening and services intervention project. Methods. A brief intimate partner violence screen, which included items to measure sexual and physical assaults and psychological battering (using the Women’s Experience With Battering scale) was administered to consenting women receiving care at 1 of 8 rural clinics in South Carolina. Results. Between April 2002 and August 2005, 4945 eligible women were offered intimate partner violence screening, to which 3664 (74.1%) consented. Prevalence of intimate partner violence in a current (ongoing) relationship was 13.3%, and 939 women (25.6%) had experienced intimate partner violence at some point in the past 5 years. Of those ever experiencing intimate partner violence, the majority (65.6%) experienced both assaults and psychological battering; 10.1% experienced assault only, and 24.3% experienced psychological ba...
A conceptualization of gendered interpersonal aggression that is grounded in the social ecologica... more A conceptualization of gendered interpersonal aggression that is grounded in the social ecological framework is presented to explicate factors in adolescents' gendered environments that give rise to aggression and victimization. The focus is on gendered social structures and social networks. Our framework for prevention suggests that violence prevention requires that we move our culture from one that continually recreates gendered structures that reinforce power and authority as masculine and that confer opportunities and constraints in ways that favor men over women. It will require deliberate action to legitimize the feminine in our culture and develop laws and practices that abolish gender inequities.
OBJECTIVE To compare the Women's Experience with Battering Scale (WEB) with the Index of Spou... more OBJECTIVE To compare the Women's Experience with Battering Scale (WEB) with the Index of Spouse Abuse-Physical Scale (ISA-P) as screening tools to identify intimate partner violence (IPV). METHODS We conducted a large cross-sectional survey of women age 18 to 65 attending one of two family practice clinics from 1997 to 1998. All women completed both the WEB and the ISA-P and a telephone interview. We figured agreement estimates between the two tools, used stratified analyses to evaluate attributes of those more likely to screen as battered or physically assaulted, and compared associations between the WEB and ISA-P and a range of mental and physical health indicators known to be associated with IPV. RESULTS 18% of 1152 eligible women surveyed had experienced IPV in a current or most recent intimate relationship with a male partner; 17% had been battered (WEB+), and 10% had been physically assaulted (ISA-P+). Had we used the ISA-P alone to assess IPV, we would have missed almost ...
Despite consistent evidence to suggest that participating in leisure is associated with perceived... more Despite consistent evidence to suggest that participating in leisure is associated with perceived health status among older adults, there have been few attempts to determine the possible underlying mechanisms in this relationship, including the role of quality of life (QoL). This study examined the role of perceived quality of life in the relationship between leisure and perceived health in older women. Correlations, regression, and mediation analysis were conducted on data from the Woman's College Alumnae Women's Health Study. Results indicate that QoL partially mediates the relationship between leisure and perceived health in older women. Findings further establish the link between leisure and perceived health with QoL playing an important role in the relationship.
The types of violence subsumed under the term intimate partner violence include physical assault,... more The types of violence subsumed under the term intimate partner violence include physical assault, sexual assault, psychological abuse, and battering. This study is the first to estimate the prevalence of intimate partner violence by type (battering, physical assaults, and sexual assaults) in a population-based sample of women aged 18 to 45. The authors describe the prevalence of partner violence by type as well as the demographic, health behavior, and health status correlates of intimate partner violence by type. Findings support the empirical distinction of battering and assault. Battering as measured by the Women’s Experiences With Battering (WEB) Scale provided the most comprehensive measure of intimate partner violence.
ABSTRACT Our Person-Centered Model of Gendered Adolescent Aggression builds on the social ecologi... more ABSTRACT Our Person-Centered Model of Gendered Adolescent Aggression builds on the social ecological approach well-established within public health. Our model presupposes that: GAIA is normative rather than deviant and social rather than natural; GAIA is not desirable and is harmful to all involved; and the development of structures and practices that affirm the worth and dignity of all young people is the preferred approach to reducing adolescent aggressive. Our continuous process and person-centered approach is designed to place adolescents, within the context of their environments, at the core of model so we can better understand how young women and men come to have their early socio-emotional, sexual or intimate heterosexual relations defined by power, inequity, and aggression. The social ecological approach does not detail the processes whereby factors at each level of the social ecology affect individual behavior nor does it specifically address the central role of gender. Thus, the starting point of the model is the writing of Robert Connell, whose Theory of Gender and Power outlines three structures that give rise to gendered social relationships: the gendered division of labor, gendered division of power, and gendered construction of sexuality. These structures provide the macro-environment, at the socio-cultural and social network levels, for both young women's and young men's use of aggression in their adolescent relationships. Finally, theories of social information processing and adolescent's subjective socio-emotional interpretations of themselves, their partners, and the situation influence the micro-environment (the dyadic and intrapersonal levels) that helps give rise to GAIA.
For women experiencing partner violence, women health care visits represent opportunities for phy... more For women experiencing partner violence, women health care visits represent opportunities for physicians and patients to address intimate partner violence (IPV), a significant health threat for women. The objectives were to estimate rates of physician documentation of IPV in medical records; characterize IPV+ women most likely to have IPV documented; and determine whether IPV screening increased IPV documentation. Subjects were women ages 18-65 receiving primary care in two large family practice clinics. All were screened for IPV by study staff using a modified Index of Spouse Abuse and the Women's Experience with Battering scales. We selected and abstracted medical records for all women experiencing current IPV (N = 144) and a random sample of women never experiencing IPV (N = 147). Of 144 women screened as currently experiencing IPV, 14.7% were documented. Women most likely to have IPV documented were Caucasian, with higher WEB scores, and more likely to have an event that cou...
Many areas of women's health, including battering, suffer from conceptual and methodological ... more Many areas of women's health, including battering, suffer from conceptual and methodological deficits. This article uses the “measurement trap” (Graham & Campbell, 1991), a set of conditions defined by lack of information resulting from a narrow conceptualization of the problem, poor existing data sources, inappropriate outcome indicators, and limited measurement techniques, as a framework for describing how current approaches to conceptualizing and measuring battering hamper research and program efforts in the field of domestic violence. We then describe an alternative conceptualization-and-measurement approach that is based on battered women's experiences. We argue that an experiential approach, which grounds measurement in women's lived experiences, improves our ability to conduct research that correctly identifies, monitors, and explains the epidemiology of this phenomenon and provides a solid basis for policy and program development.
Three incoming freshmen classes of men provided data in a 5-year longitudinal study of the relati... more Three incoming freshmen classes of men provided data in a 5-year longitudinal study of the relationship between childhood victimization experiences and sexually coercive behaviors during adolescence and 4 years of college. A key finding of this study was that men who were physically punished, sexually abused, or who witnessed domestic violence in childhood were at greater risk for sexual perpetration in high school. Furthermore, men who perpetrated in high school were at greater risk for sexual perpetration in college; and after controlling for perpetration in high school, those who were abused or witnessed violence in childhood were not at greater risk for college perpetration. The findings have a number of implications for research and practice: We need to identify high-risk populations and direct more targeted interventions toward them. These groups include those who witness or experience abuse as a child and young men who perpetrate violence in adolescence, regardless of childho...
Objectives. We sought to determine the frequency of intimate partner violence by type in a large,... more Objectives. We sought to determine the frequency of intimate partner violence by type in a large, clinic-based, nurse-administered screening and services intervention project. Methods. A brief intimate partner violence screen, which included items to measure sexual and physical assaults and psychological battering (using the Women’s Experience With Battering scale) was administered to consenting women receiving care at 1 of 8 rural clinics in South Carolina. Results. Between April 2002 and August 2005, 4945 eligible women were offered intimate partner violence screening, to which 3664 (74.1%) consented. Prevalence of intimate partner violence in a current (ongoing) relationship was 13.3%, and 939 women (25.6%) had experienced intimate partner violence at some point in the past 5 years. Of those ever experiencing intimate partner violence, the majority (65.6%) experienced both assaults and psychological battering; 10.1% experienced assault only, and 24.3% experienced psychological ba...
A conceptualization of gendered interpersonal aggression that is grounded in the social ecologica... more A conceptualization of gendered interpersonal aggression that is grounded in the social ecological framework is presented to explicate factors in adolescents' gendered environments that give rise to aggression and victimization. The focus is on gendered social structures and social networks. Our framework for prevention suggests that violence prevention requires that we move our culture from one that continually recreates gendered structures that reinforce power and authority as masculine and that confer opportunities and constraints in ways that favor men over women. It will require deliberate action to legitimize the feminine in our culture and develop laws and practices that abolish gender inequities.
OBJECTIVE To compare the Women's Experience with Battering Scale (WEB) with the Index of Spou... more OBJECTIVE To compare the Women's Experience with Battering Scale (WEB) with the Index of Spouse Abuse-Physical Scale (ISA-P) as screening tools to identify intimate partner violence (IPV). METHODS We conducted a large cross-sectional survey of women age 18 to 65 attending one of two family practice clinics from 1997 to 1998. All women completed both the WEB and the ISA-P and a telephone interview. We figured agreement estimates between the two tools, used stratified analyses to evaluate attributes of those more likely to screen as battered or physically assaulted, and compared associations between the WEB and ISA-P and a range of mental and physical health indicators known to be associated with IPV. RESULTS 18% of 1152 eligible women surveyed had experienced IPV in a current or most recent intimate relationship with a male partner; 17% had been battered (WEB+), and 10% had been physically assaulted (ISA-P+). Had we used the ISA-P alone to assess IPV, we would have missed almost ...
Despite consistent evidence to suggest that participating in leisure is associated with perceived... more Despite consistent evidence to suggest that participating in leisure is associated with perceived health status among older adults, there have been few attempts to determine the possible underlying mechanisms in this relationship, including the role of quality of life (QoL). This study examined the role of perceived quality of life in the relationship between leisure and perceived health in older women. Correlations, regression, and mediation analysis were conducted on data from the Woman's College Alumnae Women's Health Study. Results indicate that QoL partially mediates the relationship between leisure and perceived health in older women. Findings further establish the link between leisure and perceived health with QoL playing an important role in the relationship.
The types of violence subsumed under the term intimate partner violence include physical assault,... more The types of violence subsumed under the term intimate partner violence include physical assault, sexual assault, psychological abuse, and battering. This study is the first to estimate the prevalence of intimate partner violence by type (battering, physical assaults, and sexual assaults) in a population-based sample of women aged 18 to 45. The authors describe the prevalence of partner violence by type as well as the demographic, health behavior, and health status correlates of intimate partner violence by type. Findings support the empirical distinction of battering and assault. Battering as measured by the Women’s Experiences With Battering (WEB) Scale provided the most comprehensive measure of intimate partner violence.
ABSTRACT Our Person-Centered Model of Gendered Adolescent Aggression builds on the social ecologi... more ABSTRACT Our Person-Centered Model of Gendered Adolescent Aggression builds on the social ecological approach well-established within public health. Our model presupposes that: GAIA is normative rather than deviant and social rather than natural; GAIA is not desirable and is harmful to all involved; and the development of structures and practices that affirm the worth and dignity of all young people is the preferred approach to reducing adolescent aggressive. Our continuous process and person-centered approach is designed to place adolescents, within the context of their environments, at the core of model so we can better understand how young women and men come to have their early socio-emotional, sexual or intimate heterosexual relations defined by power, inequity, and aggression. The social ecological approach does not detail the processes whereby factors at each level of the social ecology affect individual behavior nor does it specifically address the central role of gender. Thus, the starting point of the model is the writing of Robert Connell, whose Theory of Gender and Power outlines three structures that give rise to gendered social relationships: the gendered division of labor, gendered division of power, and gendered construction of sexuality. These structures provide the macro-environment, at the socio-cultural and social network levels, for both young women's and young men's use of aggression in their adolescent relationships. Finally, theories of social information processing and adolescent's subjective socio-emotional interpretations of themselves, their partners, and the situation influence the micro-environment (the dyadic and intrapersonal levels) that helps give rise to GAIA.
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