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We investigated the joint mediating effects of injuries and stress on the relationship between abuse and women's health. A community sample of 397 women, half of whom had been assaulted by an intimate partner within the prior 6 months, was interviewed about their experience of intimate partner violence, injuries, stress, income, depression, and physical health problems. Structural equation modeling techniques confirmed the complex model of hypothesized indirect effects of abuse on women's physical health problems through injuries, stress, and depression. Stress accounted for 80% of the indirect effect of abuse on women's physical health. Its direct effect on physical health was somewhat larger than its indirect effect through depression, but both processes played a key role in determining the effect of abuse on women's physical health problems. Furthermore, abuse was a stronger predictor of women's stress than was poverty. Implication and future research are discussed. KEY WORDS: domestic violence; battered women; physical abuse; physical health; women's health; stress; structural equation modeling.

The effectiveness of a strengths- and community-based support and advocacy intervention for battered women and their children was examined. The study included a longitudinal, experimental design and employed multimethod strategies to measure children's exposure to abuse and their self-competence over a period of 8 months. Maternal experience of abuse and maternal well-being were also assessed. The experimental intervention involved advocacy for mothers and their children and a 10-week support and education group for the children. Families in the experimental condition received the free services of a trained paraprofessional for 6 to 8 hours per week over 16 weeks. Eighty mothers and their 80 children participated in the study. Findings were modest but promising. Children in the experimental condition reported significantly higher self-competence in several domains compared to children in the control group. The intervention caused improvement in women's depression and self-esteem over time. Policy, practice and research implications are discussed.

A prior experimental evaluation of a community-based advocacy program for women with abusive partners demonstrated positive change in the lives of women even 2 years postintervention (C. M. Sullivan & D. I. Bybee, 1999). The current study explored the complex mediational process through which this change occurred, using longitudinal structural equation modeling and formal tests of mediation. As hypothesized, the advocacy intervention first resulted in women successfully obtaining desired community resources and increasing their social support, which enhanced their overall quality of life. This improvement in well-being appeared to serve as a protective factor from subsequent abuse, as women who received the intervention were significantly less likely to be abused at 2-year follow-up compared with women in the control condition. Increased quality of life completely mediated the impact of the advocacy intervention on later reabuse. Discussion places advocacy for women in the context of other efforts that are ne eded to build an effective community response to preventing intimate violence against women. KEY WORDS: domestic violence; battered women; longitudinal structural equation modeling; tests of mediation.

This article examines the relationship between domestic abuse and income level on women's physical health. The authors maintain that physical abuse and poverty contribute to women's poor physical health, with physical abuse being a stronger factor than income level.

This article discusses the continuous abuse women face despite their

A study reveals that women with abusive partners cope with the violence and the sense of betrayal in various ways, and most women turn to spirituality or God as a source of strength or comfort. Extent of religious involvement predicts increased psychological well-being and decreased depression, while greater religious involvement is also related to increased social support to colored women.

The method of prioritization of help-seeking activities by the survivors is examined. Findings suggest that comprehensive and individualized approaches to advocacy for battered women are essential.

Battered women with children between 5 and 12 years were interviewed with a view to examining the safety planning strategies employed by them. Several strategies were revealed but it was concluded that no one strategy could be prescribed for all and that some women continued to be in danger no matter what steps they took to protect themselves.

Women, who are exposed to secondary stressors and violence shortly after shelter exit, experienced relatively higher levels of depression that either did not improve or significantly increased with time. Social support is the only resource to have the hypothesized decreasing effect on depression.

Most battered women in a study about seeking help from family and friends confided in these people. Reactions depended on factors including number of children, number of separations, the battered woman's relationship with her abuser, and whether friends and family were threatened.

ABSTRACT Objective This study evaluated the Michigan Farmers' Market Nutrition Program in one Michigan county to determine its effect on fruit and vegetable consumption behavior. Design Education-only and coupon and [...]

An intensive community-based advocacy intervention was designed and evaluated by randomly assigning 278 battered women to an experimental or control condition. Participants were interviewed 6 times over a period of 2 years. Retention rate averaged 95% over the 2 years. The 10-week postshelter intervention involved providing trained advocates to work 1-on-1 with women, helping generate and access the community resources they needed to reduce their risk of future violence from their abusive partners. Women who worked with advocates experienced less violence over time, reported higher quality of life and social support, and had less difficulty obtaining community resources. More than twice as many women receiving advocacy services experienced no violence across the 2 years postintervention compared with women who did not receive such services.