Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

6063

Date

2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Psychology

Concentration

Clinical Psychology

Committee Chair

J Gayle Beck

Committee Member

Kathryn H Howell

Committee Member

Esra Ozdenerol

Committee Member

DeMond M Grant

Abstract

The present study examined the influence of person-level, event-level, geographic, and social factors on the maintenance of mental health conditions in women survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). The influence of these factors on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) was conceptualized used an ecological systems framework. Main effects of 13 empirically-supported predictor variables and interactive effects of race and racial-ethnic make-up of the neighborhood, race and crime, and crime and social support, were examined. Geographic information systems (GIS) technology was used to map neighborhood factors (e.g., racial-ethnic composition, employment rate, median income) and crime. Crime in the environment was mapped at address-level and aggregated to precinct-level, allowing us to examine measurement effects. In hierarchical regression analyses, peritraumatic response to IPV, longer elapsed time since IPV, and sexual IPV were associated with IPV-related PTSD. Exposure to more adverse events, longer elapsed time since IPV, and sexual IPV were associated with depression. Crime interacted with race to predict depression, although the nature of the interactions differed as a function of crime measurement. Precinct-level crime interacted with social support to predict depression. Sexual IPV and exposure to more adverse events were associated with GAD. These findings underscore the role of maintenance factors from multiple systems in symptomatology among women IPV survivors. They suggest that crime is a particularly relevant geographic factor impacting mental health. Clinical and policy implications are discussed, with attention to the utility of integrating GIS technology into future IPV and mental health-related endeavors.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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