Abstract
Thirty three currently battered women who sought counseling/support services from a Nassau County, New York community agency that provides services to victims of domestic violence participated. Eighty-nine percent of the women experienced severe acts of physical abuse and 31% of the women required surgery or suffered concussions as a result of their injuries. Fifty-two percent of the women scored above 20 on the Beck Depression Inventory. As the number, form, and consequences of physically aggressive acts increased and/or worsened, the women's depressive symptoms increased and self-esteem decreased. However, only 12% of the women in this sample blamed themselves for causing their partner's violence. Further, neither self-blame nor partner blame was associated with length of abuse or the frequency and severity of physical aggression. However, self-blame was marginally associated with depressive symptomatology.
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Cascardi, M., O'Leary, K.D. Depressive symptomatology, self-esteem, and self-blame in battered women. Journal of Family Violence 7, 249–259 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00994617
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00994617