Dating Violence: The Association Between Methods of Coping and Women’s Psychological Adjustment

Abstract

The present study examined the psychological impact of dating violence and the relationship between methods of coping with dating violence and psychological adjustment in a nonclinical female student population. Analyses revealed that women who experienced dating violence were at significantly greater risk than a comparison group for experiencing psychological distress. More symptoms of psychological distress were observed even after controlling for differences between the groups in histories of sexual aggression since age 16 and violence experiences in childhood including physical abuse, sexual abuse, and witnessing physical conflict between one’s parents. The dating violence group was also more prone to use disengagement methods of coping to deal with nondating violence stressful life events than was the comparison group. In addition, disengagement methods of coping with the dating violence per se accounted for unique variance in psychological adjustment even after controlling for characteristics of the dating violence and methods of coping with other stressors.