| Research is lacking on the factors in the decision to stay or leave an abusive relationship in Mexican battered women. The current study examined nine factors: income, family members, level of self-esteem, degree of depression, religiosity, social support, patriarchal values, economic dependency, and intensity of abuse for Mexican abused women's stay/leave decision.;A non-random sample of 130 Mexican heterosexual women 18--48 years of age, who experienced abuse for a duration of at least six months, sought services in an intake application process of CAFAM agency in Guadalupe, NL, Mexico. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire design and validated by the researcher, a Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Self-esteem Inventory (SEI). Participants' data were grouped according to their relationship status at the time of the study.;Results of t-test analyses indicated statistical significant mean differences between: (1) a group of women that remained with their abusive partners and (2) a group of women who left. The two groups experienced differences in economic dependency, levels of self-esteem, degree of depression, religiosity, social support, patriarchal values and intensity of abuse. No significant differences were found in income and family members.;Multiple regression was conducted in a multivariate analysis. Findings supported four strong predictors in the Mexican women's stay/leave decision. In descending order of their impact were: patriarchal values, religiosity, social support and degree of depression.;These results added a deeper understanding of the roles of the nine factors in the Mexican abused women's decision to stay or leave their abusive partners, and identified the strongest predictors in women's stay/leave decision-making. A greater understanding of the abused Mexican women's decision-making should assist professional social workers and policy-makers in Mexico to direct interventions, and to develop programs, laws and policies that assist abused women more effectively. |
