How Coping Strategies Impact Depression in Older Women after Spousal Physical Abuse

Background

Most violence against women comes from intimate male partners (Krug, Mercy, Dahlberg, & Zwi, 2002). Population-based surveys from around the world reveal up to 69% of female respondents have been physically assaulted by an intimate male partner; many report being abused continuously (Krug et al., 2002). Although Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) among older adults is expected to rise as baby boomers age (Roberto, Brossoie, McPherson, Pulsifer, & Brown, 2013), research on IPV tends to focus on younger women.

Depression is a major mental health consequence of IPV (Du Mont, Forte, Cohen, Hyman, & Romans, 2005). Research indicates that following IPV women are at risk of depression whether incidents are repeated or not (Chuang et al., 2012) and that depression is a significant risk factor for suicidal behaviors (Devries et al., 2013).

Appropriate coping skills such as problem-focused coping may act as a protective factor against depression by enabling older populations to maintain suitable relationships, whereas emotion-focused coping may work as a risk factor by hindering sound interactions (Piazza, Floyd, Mailick, & Greenberg, 2014). Research on how coping strategies influence depression among older female victims of partner physical abuse is rare. This study is an effort to fill this gap.

 Methods

Data come from the 2003–2005 wave of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. This study sample included only female respondents who reported a history of being physically abused by a spouse or romantic partner. Sequential Multiple Regression was conducted. The dependent variable, depression, was measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression Scales (CES-D) (Radloff, 1977). Possible total score range from 0 to 140. The square root of the depression scores was used in analysis due to the high kurtosis. Coping was measured by items based on the Brief Cope (Carver, 1997). Problem-focused coping was indicated by eight items using a four-point scale. Emotion-focused coping was indicated by ten items. The control variables were health status, education and income.

Results

A sequential multiple regression analysis was conducted. Step1 -control variables were entered into the model. Health was significantly related to depression, (F (3, 375) = 17.385, p < .001). Step 2 - problem-focused coping was entered into the model. Problem-focused coping was statistically significant (F (4, 374) = 19.832, p < .001, R² = .166, ΔF = 23.978, p<.001, ΔR²=.053). Finally, emotion-focused coping was entered into the model. Emotion-focused coping was statistically significant (F (5, 373) = 20.864, p < .001, R = .54, Adj. R² = .28, ΔF = 60.01, p<.001, ΔR²=.11). Although problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping both had influence on depression, the negative impact of emotion-focused coping was the strongest predictor of depression.

Implications

Although both positive and negative coping skills impact depression among older women after spousal/partner physical abuse, negative coping skills may have the strongest impact on the development of depression among the older women. Social workers and other service providers must educate older women to enhance appropriate coping skills and reduce inappropriate coping skills. Additional needs include community-level intervention and tailored programs against domestic violence.