| The following study tested whether a specific pathway outlined in the Dutton and Goodman (2005) Model of Intimate Partner Violence aptly described the relationship between sexual coercion and poor health symptom outcomes among low-income African American and Afro-Caribbean women. Specifically, this study investigated whether emotional reactions to battering mediated the relationship between sexual coercion and derived intimate partner violence (IPV) associated health outcomes. Low-income African American women (N=664) and Afro-Caribbean (N=179) women were sampled from three urban health centers in Baltimore, US and the U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas and St. Croix). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression 10 (CESD-10) scale, Primary Care-Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PC-PTSD) scale, Severity of Violence against Women scale (SVAWS), Women's Experience with Battering (WEB) scale, and the Miller Abuse and Physical Injury Assessment scale (MAPSAIS) to derive latent constructs of interest. Adjusting for age (in yrs.), education level, monthly income, monthly alcohol intake, and social service receipt, multivariate logistic regressions models showed that emotional reaction to battering partially mediated the relationship between sexual coercion and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms for low-income African American women. Neither full nor partial mediation was found among low-income Afro-Caribbean women. Additional interaction analysis revealed that sexual coercion and emotional reaction to battering, on average, elevated the probability of reporting negative IPV-associated symptoms. However, a suppressive effect was seen in the reports of specific physical symptoms among low-income African American women who were sexually coerced and has a negative emotional reaction to battering. Additionally, monthly alcohol consumption was highly salient among low-income Afro-Caribbean women in their reports of respiratory symptoms. The stability of emotional response to battering, individual risk and protective factors, as well as group-level membership may affect the odds of reporting IPV-associated physical and mental health outcomes among low-income women of color. Research implications and future directions are discussed. |
