COUV ACTES - Psychologie communautaire

Community Psychology: Common Values, Diverse PracticesSocio-demographic and Other Characteristics. In addition to age, education, employment status,marital/relationship status, number of children, and socioeconomic status, the length of residency at the currentaddress and participation in community groups was assessed. The length of residency at current address wascalculated by dividing the number of years in which the respondent had lived at the current address by her age atinterview.ResultsExperiences of Abuse and ViolenceOne in six respondents (15.4%) reported having experienced IPV. One in ten (9.7%) reported childhood sexualabuse, with 6.7% reporting CSA by a stranger, and 3.1% by a known person. A smaller proportion of respondentsreported having experienced physical violence (4.7%) and sexual violence (3.8%) since age 15, perpetrated byindividuals other than an intimate partner.Factors Associated with Social Support and Social CapitalOf the three dimensions of social support, only the degree of satisfaction was associated with the experience ofIPV. Those who had experienced IPV in the past year reported a lower level of satisfaction with available socialsupport. In contrast, social capital was associated with experiences of IPV 1+ years ago but not with the past-yearIPV.Childhood sexual abuse by stranger was associated with lower levels of both satisfaction with social support andsocial capital. Social capital, but not satisfaction with social support, varied by the length of residency at therespondent’s current address and participation in community groups. There was a positive interaction effectbetween the length of residency at the current address and the experience of IPV 1+ years ago.Factors Associated with Physical and Emotional Distress SymptomsBoth past-year IPV and IPV 1+ years ago were associated with a larger number of physical and emotionaldistress symptoms experienced in the past year. Of the three dimensions of social support, only the degree ofsatisfaction with social support was associated with the number of distress symptoms. Women who reportedhigher levels of satisfaction had experienced a smaller number of symptoms. This finding is consistent with otherstudies, including a study of Japanese American women in Los Angeles (Yoshihama & Horrocks, 2002), thatfound that the degree of satisfaction with social support, but not the size or frequency of social support, isassociated with distress. Social capital was not associated with distress symptoms.DiscussionThe results of this study suggest that prior experiences of abuse have lasting effects on women’s wellbeing. Notonly IPV in the past year but IPV experienced prior to the past year was associated with higher distresssymptoms. In addition, those who had experienced childhood sexual abuse by stranger were less likely to enjoy225