The association of physical and mental health of middle-aged women with the occurrence of physical, psychological, sexual and combinational abuse(s)

113 Pages·2005·2.125 MB·English

by  Jeremy Craig Cottle

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THE ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF MIDDLE-AGED
WOMEN WITH THE OCCURRENCE OF PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL,
SEXUAL AND COMBINATIONAL ABUSE(S)
A
DISSERTATION
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of
St. Mary’s University in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements
for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in
COUNSELING EDUCATION AND SUPERVISION
by
Jeremy Craig Cottle, B.A., M.S.W.
San Antonio, Texas
May 2005
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UMI Number: 3173745
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Copyright
By
Jeremy Craig Cottle
2005
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THE ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF MIDDLE-AGED
WOMEN WITH THE OCCURRENCE OF PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL,
SEXUAL AND COMBINATIONAL ABUSE(S)
APPROVED:
Dana C
Dissertation Advisor
Robert Brzyski, M.D., Ph.D.
dJUItJL
Robert B. Babcock, Ph.D.
Randall R. Lyle,
APPROVED
HeryTTIores,
Dean of the Graduate School
Date: /h * ' / & > - a
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Dedication
I would like to dedicate this work to my wife, Jennifer, for all the love we share
and the support she has given to me throughout this long academic process.
I would also like to dedicate this work to my beautiful daughter and son, who
have helped inspire me to complete this work. I would also like to give a special
dedication to my father for his support throughout my life and always believing in
my potential. My completing this degree is in honor of you.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to give a special thanks to Nathan Cottle, for his assistance,
patience, and guidance in assisting me in the completion of this work. I would like
to acknowledge my supervisor, committee for their input and suggestions. I also
owe a great debt and gratitude to Robert Brzyski of the UTHSC for allowing me
to use the data and be part of his research study. I appreciate the help of my
colleague, Chris Ballard, who provided feedback and organizational assistance.
v
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ABSTRACT
THE ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF MIDDLE-AGED
WOMEN WITH THE OCCURRENCE OF PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL,
SEXUAL AND COMBINATIONAL ABUSE(S)
Jeremy Craig Cottle, Ph.D.
St. Mary’s University at San Antonio, 2004
Dissertation Adviser: Dana L. Comstock, Ph.D.
This study investigated the association of physical and mental health with
the incidence of various forms of abuse in middle-aged women, addressing a gap
in the literature regarding the study of abuse in this population. The Domestic
Violence Screening Questionnaire (DVSQ) was used to measure abuse and
assess its effect on the outcomes of physical and mental health, measured by
the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36). It was hypothesized that women, age
45 to 60 years old, who experience recent abuse(s) would report lower physical
and mental health scores on the SF-36 than women who had not reported recent
abuse(s).
Data for this study were taken from a sample of 177 women who
participated in a non-randomized, descriptive research design conducted at the
University Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas by Robert Brzyski, M.D.,
Ph.D. Of those women surveyed, 66 respondents (or 37 percent) reported some
form of psychological, sexual, physical, or a combination of these abuses, while
111 (or 63 percent) participants reported no abuse. One-way analyses of
vi
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variance (ANOVA) and multiple regressions were performed to test whether
those who reported abuse had lower physical and mental health scores than
those who did not report abuse. No significant associations were found between
abuse and physical health; however, reports of abuse, especially psychological
and combinational forms, were negatively associated with mental health.
Additionally, hierarchical regressions were performed to investigate if reports of
abuse would predict health scores above and beyond other proximal predictors
of abuse. Results from these analyses mirrored those from the ANOVAs,
suggesting that psychological and combinational forms of abuse may be
particularly damaging to mental health. Implications for these relationships were
drawn suggesting that professionals should be aware of the potential impact that
abuse may have on the overall health of the people they help.
vii
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