Table 1. Empirical Studies on Post-separation Relationships Source Participants Procedure Analysis & Results Weaknesses Strengths Beeble, Bybee, & Sullivan (2009) 160 mothers from three DV-related agencies with at least one child ages Reported experiencing physical abuse in past 4 months. Mothers were interviewed 6 over 2 years about their involvement with the abuser, physical and psychological abuse, depression, quality of life, and social support. Used longitudinal, multilevel modeling to examine impact of physical and psychological abuse on depression over time with social support as a moderator. Mean levels of physical and psychological abuse and average depression scores decreased over time. Social support and average quality of life scores increased over time. Social support mediated, moderated, and had a main effect on well-being. Effects were strongest for mothers who experienced lower levels of abuse. Overall mean levels of violence were relatively low and may not be generalizable to populations with higher levels of violence. Unclear whether controlled for relevant variables, such as income, employment, and community violence. Does not make distinctions types of violence. Used repeated measures over time. Distinguished between high and low levels of violence. Campbell et al., (2003) 220 DV femicide victims identified in 11 cities from police or medical examiner records (cases). Proxy informants were identified for each case and consisted of relatives or friends that were knowledgeable about the victim-perpetrator relationship. 343 abused women (controls) who had been Proxies and controls were interviewed risk factors for homicide; demographic and relationship characteristics; type, frequency, and severity of violence; psychological abuse and harassment; substance use; and weapon availability. Factor analysis of risk items was used to construct scales measuring partner’s controlling and stalking behaviors. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between hypothesized risk factors and risk of femicide. Reliance on proxies who may not know all of the details surrounding the victim-perpetrator relationship. Used a case-control design to match femicide victims with abused women. Included contextual factors such as controlling, harassing, and stalking behaviors that reflect the dynamics of coercive control.
physically assaulted or threatened with a weapon by a current or former partner in past 2 years were randomly sampled in the same cities as the cases. Risk factors for femicide included: abuser’s lack of employment (strongest risk factor), abuser’s access to a firearm, use of illicit drugs (not alcohol), highly controlling behaviors and separation after living together, having a child who is not the abusers’ living in the home, and previous threats to harm or kill with a weapon. Campbell & Soeken (1999) General community sample of 98 women who had either experienced at least one act of severe violence, two acts of minor physical aggression, or had been forced into sex by an intimate partner in the past year. Women were interviewed 3 times over 3.5 years about the severity of physical and sexual abuse and emotional abuse, risk factors for homicide, and health and stress outcomes. Used longitudinal predictive correlational analysis. Women were in one of three groups: abuse at Time 1 only; abuse at Times 1 and 2; abuse at Times 1, 2, and 3 Used a 3 (pattern) x 3 (time) mixed repeated measures ANOVA to measure change or growth in health and stress outcomes across time. Women who reported abuse at all three time points had significantly poorer health outcomes at Time 3 than women who reported abuse at Times 1 or Times 1 and Longitudinal methods highlight various processes rather than treating abuse as a event. Assessed and health outcomes at 3 time points, which allowed analyses to focus on the change that occurs when abuse stops, but also highlights the deleterious effects of abuse, especially continuous abuse. Contributes to literature by describing different depression trajectories based on abuse experiences and ethnicity. Limitations in the use of ANOVA created two problems in their sampling. First, they cannot account for missing data at any of the three time points, so they had to exclude participants who did not participate in all three time points. Second, the participants had to have equal spacing between time points in order to include their data.
2. Women who reported abuse at all three time points scored significantly higher on risk factors for homicide. Fleury, Sullivan, & Bybee (2000) 135 recruited from a DV shelter program in a medium-sized industrial city. Women were included if they were involved with their partner when they entered the shelter but were no longer involved with them 10 weeks after shelter exit. Women were interviewed 6 times, including at shelter exit, 10 weeks later, and then every 6 months for the next 2 years. Abuser’s behavior was measured, including physical violence, threats, sexual suspicion, alcohol and drug use, previous DV arrests, and proximity to the survivor. Women’s behavior was measured, including number of times she contacted the police, number of previous separations, involvement with a new intimate partner, and help-seeking efforts. Event history analysis was used to examine factors such as with the abusive partner. A logistic regression model was used to create separate cases for each time that a specific woman was known to be at risk for violence by the ex-partner. 1 in 3 women (36%) was assaulted by an prior to either reuniting or the end of the study, and the majority (72%) of assaults was severe. The majority of initial assaults occurred soon after the end of the relationship. Factors including the length of relationship prior to shelter stay, frequency of threats against women since the prior interview, and sexual suspicion were related to an increased risk of violence at the subsequent time point. Results may not be generalizable beyond shelter samples. Uses longitudinal data to identify specific factors that put women at risk for assault they leave a shelter and separate from their abusive partner.
their former husband during marriage. focused on IPV, fathers’ contact and involvement with children, women’s relationships with former partners, and relationships coding and constant comparative analysis, axial coding, and selective coding. Analysis moved from descriptive to theoretical coding. “Differentiation of parental/spousal and parental emerged as the core variable. Three distinct patterns emerged: poorly differentiated, well differentiated, and absent former husbands. Poorly differentiated former husbands had a history of coercive controlling violence and continued to exert control over their partners after separation. The majority of well differentiated former husbands had a history of situational couple violence and was able to work out effective coparenting relationships with mothers. Absent former husbands were not distinguished by type of DV. reports of coparenting relationships. and situational couple violence. Hilton (1992) 20 mothers who had separated from an abusive partner. Participants were from agency samples (e.g., DV Semi-structured interviews that focused on violent incidents with their former partner and the conflicts preceding For 45% of mothers, children were often the focus of the conflict preceding violence. 70% of mothers reported that Reliance on only maternal retrospective reports of children’s exposure. Reliance on Contributes to the literature by describing the context of conflicts that
verbal observations were made based on the mother’s teaching behaviors and quality of interaction. The computer- presented social situations vignettes were simulated as a day in the life of the family with commonly occurring family situations or problems. significant predictors of behavioral problems in the battered women group. Levendosky & Graham-Bermann (1998) 121 mothers and their children aged 7-12 (n = 60 shelter residents; n = 61 non-shelter residents). Sample was primarily low income. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing children’s adjustment (Child Behavior Checklist), parenting stress (Parenting Stress Index), physical violence (Conflict Tactics Scales), and psychological abuse (Violence Against Women Scales), Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed separately to predict parent domain stress and child domain stress. These regressions were also used to predict child behavioral symptoms with income, psychological and physical abuse, and parenting stress as independent variables. Psychological and physical DV were associated with higher levels of parenting stress, but parenting stress did not differ significantly between the two groups. Parenting stress had a negative effect on Reliance on mother reports only. Sample was primarily low income. Results may not be generalizable to income groups. Contributes to a more thorough understanding of how DV affects children by measuring direct and indirect pathways
The Norbeck Social Support Scale, Infant Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment, Posttraumatic Stress Scale for Family Violence, Brief Symptom Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were administered at Time 2. Past (Time 1) and current (Time 2) DV were related to maternal mental health. At both times points, experiencing more DV was negatively associated with mental health. Social support was directly and positively related to mental health. DV reported at Time 1 was directly related to infants’ externalizing behaviors. experiencing threats versus actual violence. Levendosky, Lynch, & Graham-Bermann (2000) 95 mothers recruited from community locations (n = 61) and DV shelters (n = 34). Mothers reported high levels of frequent and severe DV. Sample was predominately low income. The Conflict Tactics Scales and the Violence Against Women Scales were used to assess physical and psychological violence. Mothers were also asked about threats of violence and verbal abuse. Open-ended questions were asked about how DV had affected their parenting, if there were times when it is was more difficult to parent and why, and what kind of parent they would be if they did not have a violent partner. Narratives were coded by four trained coders. Similar responses were grouped into categories for each question. The majority of mothers believed that DV affected their parenting and that they would be different parents if they did not have a violent partner. Mothers reported both negative and positive influences of DV on their parenting (e.g., positive in that they sought resources to respond to DV on behalf of their children.) Mothers’ narratives reflected awareness and Interviews were in duration and lacked depth. Lacks a thorough description of the methods of analysis. No differentiation on severity and frequency of DV. Cross-sectional design limits ability to compare mothers currently in a relationship to those who have left. Sample was recruited from diverse locations. questions provided a more look at mothers’ perceptions of parenting and how they believe DV influences their parenting and affects their children.
concern over how children were affected by DV. Margolin, Gordis, Medina, & Oliver, (2003) Two different samples were recruited from the community (e.g., church bulletins, newspapers, parenting magazines). The first sample sample) consisted of 181 families, including both biological parents. The second sample (mother-only sample) consisted of 65 dyads. The mother-only sample took part in a 2-hour meeting in a research lab, and the two-parent sample took part in a research lab session and 6 weeks of daily data collection. Family-of-origin aggression was asked of both samples, but the questions slightly differed. For the sample, both parents were asked if they were physically abused as a child and how often physical abuse occurred between their parents. The mother-only sample was asked how often they were hit or slapped during their childhood and how often their parents hit or slapped each other. All parents completed questionnaires assessing husband-to-wife aggression, parent’s potential for child abuse, parental relationships and interactions with the child. Physical aggression was measured as both continuous and categorical variables. Logistic regressions were used when treating physical aggression as a categorical variable in to predict the likelihood of various forms of family violence when physical aggression was present or absent. Correlations were used when physical aggression was treated as a continuous variable. ANOVAS were conducted to compare parenting in mothers and fathers when they experienced various amounts of family aggression risk variables. Mother and father reports suggest that husband-to-wife aggression and child abuse are potentially positively correlated with higher levels of controlling, coercive forms of discipline and negatively correlated The two samples were different questions regarding violence in their family-of-origin. No distinctions among types of violence or severity and frequency of violence. Generalizability is limited to similar community samples in which mostly minor acts of violence are reported. Examined multiple types of family aggression and histories of family aggression in the parents’ Highlights the importance of studying husband-to-wife aggression in the context of other forms of family aggression, such as child abuse.
Children completed a parent-child relationship questionnaire in the study and a perception of parenting scale in the mother-only sample. with various aspects of positive parenting. Fathers who experienced family-of-origin aggression were more likely to be aggressive towards wives than fathers who did not. Husband-to-wife aggression was positively associated with child abuse potential in both mothers and fathers. Ford-Gilboe, Merritt-Gray, & Berman (2003) 40 single-parent families with a history of woman abuse. Recruited using community advertisements. Mothers and children over the age of 12 were interviewed. In-depth, open ended interviews were conducted. Used grounded theory methods, starting with line by line coding and constant comparative analysis and then moving to creating categories and descriptive theoretical coding. Member checking occurred by discussing the categories and theoretical findings with participants. “Intrusion” was identified as central to families’ experiences separation. Intrusion included continued harassment and violence (e.g., disrupting family routines, purposely violating family expectations, No distinctions types of violence or severity or frequency of violence. Provides practical implications for policy makers and service providers working to assist single-parent families after leaving an abusive husband/father. Provide detailed description of qualitative methods. Documents how controlling behaviors may shift from violence in the relationship to intrusion after separation in the form of harassment.