Economic Abuse in Asian American Women's Lives and Connections with Depression and Material Hardship

Background:

Economic abuse (EA) is a type of intimate partner violence (IPV) that has two subtypes: economic restriction and exploitation. EA is associated with several negative outcomes among survivors, such as depression and material hardship. Asian American women face additional struggles and dynamics regarding IPV, such as cultural differences and traditional gender roles, yet their experiences of EA have been underexplored. Although some studies have examined EA in Asian countries, research on Asian American communities remains limited, especially subgroup-specific analyses of EA, despite significant heterogeneity within Asian Americans and distinct experiences shaped by immigration histories, acculturation, and racialized minority status in the U.S. This study addressed two research questions: (1) what is the rate of EA among Korean American (KA) and Filipino American (FA) women?; (2) is EA associated with depression and material hardship after accounting for other IPV types that are known to co-occur with EA?

Methods:

Data were drawn from the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Asian American Families (MLSAAF), an ongoing longitudinal study that has followed KA and FA families since 2014. This study used maternal data from Wave 5, including 231 KA and 130 FA women (M_AGE=55.1; 89.17% married and living with their partner). A few standardized measures were used. For example, the Revised Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA2) was used, showing excellent reliability (Cronbach’s α=0.91), similarly at the subscale level (economic restriction, α=0.83 and economic exploitation, α=0.88). A 6-item material hardship assessed financial difficulty (e.g., late on utility bills, borrowing money from others) and was used as a count variable. The CED-S, the widely used depression scale, was used (α=0.92). Multivariate regressions were conducted, accounting for covariates (e.g., household income, employment, age, and marital status). The analyses were done with the full sample and by each subgroup.

Results:

The rate of EA experienced in the past year was 44.36% (48.1% of KA and 38.38% of FA women). KA women experienced more economic abuse than FA women in both subtypes: economic restriction (KA: 44.64%, FA: 36.44%) and economic exploitation (KA: 26.24%, FA: 22.41%). EA was significantly associated with other types of IPV, including physical and sexual abuse and psychological aggression. Higher EA was associated with more depressive symptoms, controlling for other IPV types (B=0.39, SE=0.12, t=3.19, p=0.002). This relationship was only significant for KA (B=0.29, SE=0.15, t=1.99, p=0.048), but it was marginally significant for FA (B=0.43, SE=0.24, t=1.82, p=0.073). Material hardship had no significant relationship with EA and in both groups.

Implications:

We found a concerning proportion of the study sample to have experienced EA in the past year, with especially high rates for KA women. EA was significantly associated with other forms of IPV and associated with depression, particularly among KA women. These findings underscore the need for culturally sensitive interventions for Asian American women, such as assessing for EA when assessing IPV and providing appropriate mental health support, particularly for depression, when victimization is present. This study also necessitates more scholarly attention to the Asian American community and their variant experiences of EA among subgroups.