Intimate partner violence, employment and social support among women seeking elective abortion PDF
Preview Intimate partner violence, employment and social support among women seeking elective abortion
University of Iowa Iowa Research Online Theses and Dissertations Fall 2009 Intimate partner violence, employment and social support among women seeking elective abortion services In Iowa Hind Ahmad Baydoun University of Iowa Copyright 2009 Hind Ahmad Baydoun This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/335 Recommended Citation Baydoun, Hind Ahmad. "Intimate partner violence, employment and social support among women seeking elective abortion services In Iowa." PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thesis, University of Iowa, 2009. https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.af8bzgwc Follow this and additional works at:https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd Part of theClinical Epidemiology Commons INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE, EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL SUPPORT AMONG WOMEN SEEKING ELECTIVE ABORTION SERVICES IN IOWA by Hind Ahmad Baydoun An Abstract Of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Epidemiology in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa December 2009 Thesis Supervisor: Professor Elaine Smith 1 ABSTRACT Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a major public health issue worldwide. The purpose of this dissertation is to characterize violence perpetrated by an intimate partner against a “high-risk” group of pregnant women who sought elective abortion services at a family planning clinic. Analyses were based on the Iowa Women’s Health Experience Survey (IWHES), a cross-sectional study of 519 abortion patients who completed an anonymous, self- administered questionnaire over a period of seven months. IWHES eligibility criteria were ‘Seeking pregnancy termination’; ‘Age ≥ 18 years’; ‘Iowa resident’ and ‘Fluent in English or Spanish’. The survey instrument covered physical, sexual and psychological types of violence, health correlates of violence as well as demographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics of participating women and their current intimate partners. Aim I examined the prevalence of physical, sexual and/or psychological abuse by employment characteristics of elective abortion patients and their current intimate partners. Aim II examined associations of substance use, depression and social support with physical, sexual and/or psychological abuse perpetrated by current intimate partners against women seeking pregnancy termination. To achieve the analytic goals of Aims I and II, the study sample was restricted to women who had a current partner and valid IPV data. The overall prevalence of physical, sexual and/or psychological abuse perpetrated by a current partner was 12.3%, with some overlap between the different IPV sub- types. In general, the prevalence of IPV did not differ significantly by employment status or by broadly defined occupational groups of women and their partners. However, a trend was noted whereby a woman’s employment and a partner’s unemployment were associated with greater likelihood of IPV. Specifically, the prevalence of IPV was highest among couples where the woman was employed and the partner was unemployed. Consistently positive associations were 2 noted between the partner’s (but not the woman’s) substance use indicators (alcohol intake, binge drinking, recreational drug use) and IPV. Higher levels of depressive symptoms and less perceived availability of social support were noted among women who had experienced IPV versus those who had not experienced IPV. The association between depressive symptoms and IPV was stronger for women who reported having children in their homes compared to those did not report having children in their homes. Implications for policy and future research are discussed. Abstract Approved: _______________________ Thesis Supervisor _______________________ Title and Department _______________________ Date INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE, EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL SUPPORT AMONG WOMEN SEEKING ELECTIVE ABORTION SERVICES IN IOWA by Hind Ahmad Baydoun A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Epidemiology in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa December 2009 Thesis Supervisor: Professor Elaine Smith Copyright by HIND AHMAD BAYDOUN 2009 All Rights Reserved Graduate College The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ________________________________________ PH.D. THESIS _______________ This is to certify that the Ph. D. thesis of Hind Ahmad Baydoun has been approved by the Examining Committee for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Epidemiology at the December 2009 graduation. Thesis Committee: ____________________________ Elaine Smith, Thesis Supervisor ____________________________ Carolyn Hartley ____________________________ Corinne Peek-Asa ____________________________ Paul Romitti _____________________________ Anne Wallis _____________________________ Gideon Zamba To my family ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research work presented in this dissertation was performed in collaboration with Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa and the Iowa Department of Public Health. Funding was received from the University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center and the University of Iowa Office of the Vice President for Research. I would like to thank my dissertation advisor (Dr. Elaine Smith) and committee members (Drs. Anne Wallis, Corinne Peek-Asa, Gideon Zamba, Carolyn Hartley and Paul Romitti) for their continued support. Special thanks to the principal investigator (Dr. Audrey Saftlas) of the original research project. Finally, I would like to thank study participants, educators and management staff for their help in data collection at the Des Moines Rosenfield Clinic. iii ABSTRACT Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a major public health issue worldwide. The purpose of this dissertation is to characterize violence perpetrated by an intimate partner against a “high-risk” group of pregnant women who sought elective abortion services at a family planning clinic. Analyses were based on the Iowa Women’s Health Experience Survey (IWHES), a cross-sectional study of 519 abortion patients who completed an anonymous, self- administered questionnaire over a period of seven months. IWHES eligibility criteria were ‘Seeking pregnancy termination’; ‘Age ≥ 18 years’; ‘Iowa resident’ and ‘Fluent in English or Spanish’. The survey instrument covered physical, sexual and psychological types of violence, health correlates of violence as well as demographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics of participating women and their current intimate partners. Aim I examined the prevalence of physical, sexual and/or psychological abuse by employment characteristics of elective abortion patients and their current intimate partners. Aim II examined associations of substance use, depression and social support with physical, sexual and/or psychological abuse perpetrated by current intimate partners against women seeking pregnancy termination. To achieve the analytic goals of Aims I and II, the study sample was restricted to women who had a current partner and valid IPV data. The overall prevalence of physical, sexual and/or psychological abuse perpetrated by a current partner was 12.3%, with some overlap between the different IPV sub- types. In general, the prevalence of IPV did not differ significantly by employment status or by broadly defined occupational groups of women and their partners. However, a trend was noted whereby a woman’s employment and a partner’s unemployment were associated with greater likelihood of IPV. Specifically, the prevalence of IPV was highest among couples where the woman was employed and the partner was unemployed. Consistently positive associations were iv
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