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This research examines how mental health issues associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) relate to women's intersecting identities of race/ethnicity, disability status, and child abuse history. Data (N = 595) from a Canadian triprovincial study included women who were White (n = 263, 44.8%), Indigenous (n = 292, 49.7%), or visible minority (n = 32, 5.5%). Few demographic differences were found. None of the mental health measures (Symptom Checklist–Short Form [SCL-10], Centre for Epidemiological Studies–Depression [CES-D-10], Posttraumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] Checklist) were in the clinical ranges. In a MANCOVA on the mental health scales, with IPV severity, racial group, disability status, and child abuse history as variables, only disability was significantly associated with more mental health symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has many negative outcomes for women, children, and families. However, researchers have opposing perspectives and findings with respect to the effects on mothering for abused women. The assumption by some service providers that abused mothers are compromised in their parenting generally ignores the larger issue of male violence and women's and children's safety. The question examined in this study was whether there were differences in reported positive parenting responses with children between women who have experienced IPV and those who have not experienced IPV. The sample consisted of 1,211 mothers and came from two studies: The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, and The Healing Journey: A Longitudinal Study of Mothers Affected by Intimate Partner Violence. The Positive Interaction and Rational Parenting scales, adapted from Strayhorn and Weidman's Parenting Practices Scale, were used to measure parenting interactions. Bivariate correlations between the outcome variables and maternal age, maternal education, child age, and child sex were calculated to determine whether any of these variables were significantly related to the Positive Interaction Scale or Rational Parenting Scale. This was followed by ANCOVA to determine whether mothers who had experienced IPV differed in their scores on the two parenting scales from mothers who had not experienced IPV. Findings did not support the notion that abused women are compromised in their parenting responses with their children in regard to positive interactions and behavior management. Recommendations include a greater focus on the prevention of IPV, addressing the source of violence and providing appropriate support for mothers who experience IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite several parallels between intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault (SA), programs designed to reduce either of these forms of violence against women rarely evaluate the impact on both IPV and SA. Accordingly, we investigated whether one such program (the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) Sexual Assault Resistance program), designed to help university-aged women resist SA, could also reduce subsequent IPV. Women university students who were enrolled in the Sexual Assault Resistance Education (SARE) randomized controlled trial examining the impact of the EAAA program on SA, were recruited immediately after completing the last survey in the SARE trial. From this trial, 153 women completed the IPV substudy, which included an additional survey. Occurrence of IPV was assessed using the Composite Abuse Scale. Of the 93 new relationships reported by 66 women in the control group, the 1-year risk of IPV was 26.8%. In contrast, of the 113 new relationships reported by 87 women in the EAAA program group, the 1-year risk of IPV was 12.2%. Effectively, the EAAA program significantly reduced the 1-year risk of IPV by 54.4% (p = .037, 95% CI [2.9%, 79.8%]). Our findings suggest that the EAAA program is effective in reducing the risk of IPV and highlights the generalizability of programming that targets the foundational underpinning of multiple forms of gender-based violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]