Intimate partner violence: relating physical and psychological abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder

• Grant number: 15/08892-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2015
• End date: July 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Rachel de Faria Brino
• Grantee: Viviane Dutra Gama
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (or violence against women) may cause serious damage to women's physical and psychological health, and, in some cases, it can be lethal; that is the reason why The World Health Organization describes the phenomenon as a public health problem. The different forms of violence against women are: physical, psychological, sexual and destruction of property. One frequent effect of these different types of violence is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The aim of the current work is to identify signs of PTSD, comparing victims of intimate partner violence and non-victims. Ten women with a previous history of victimization and ten with no previous history of abusive relationships will be asked to participate in the present study. Women with a previous history will be recruited from the city's Women Reference Center, by referral from mental health professionals or by analysis of protocols provided by the center. Those with no history will be recruited from a Service Center aimed at promoting family health. Participation will be voluntary and confidential. After signing a consent form, each participant will be invited to participate in only one individual session where she will be administered the following instruments: Demographics Questionnaire; The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist - Civilian Version (PCL-C) and Level 1 Symptoms' Self-administered Transverse Scale of DSM-V - Adult (APA). Results will be analyzed in order to achieve the following goals: 1) to test a possible correlation between the occurrence of domestic physical and psychological violence and PTDS symptoms; 2) to identify differences on PTDS indexes on both populations; 3) to test a possible correlation between abuse type and severity of aggression/ symptoms. (AU)