NCJ Number
145799
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1993) Pages: 53-68
Date Published
1993
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study examined the prevalence of mental disorders among 62 battered women receiving services from a Florida agency.
Abstract
The study involved structured interviews with the participants, using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Thirty of the women were living in a shelter operated by the agency, and 32 were living in their own homes and receiving assistance from the agency. Resultant diagnoses met diagnostic criteria developed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (third edition) of the American Psychiatric Association. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule permits the use of 10,953 females in the epidemiological study as a comparison group of normal women. Scoring of the interviews was done by a computer diagnostic program with absolute decision rules. There was a high prevalence of psychosexual dysfunction, major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder. These diagnoses apparently reflect the major components of the battered woman syndrome developed by Lenore Walker. The study approximates Walker's request for improved methodology in the research into the psychology of the battered woman. 4 tables and 54 references