Paper
Thursday, July 12, 2007
This presentation is part of : Women's Health Issues
The Relationship of Marginality, Abuse and PTSD Scores in Women
Anne Floyd Koci, PhD, APRN-BC, cFNP, WHNP, Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA, Ora Strickland, PhD, RN, FAAN, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA, and David Cantor, PhD, Psychological Sciences Institute (PSI), Duluth, GA, USA.
Learning Objective #1: have a greater understanding of the relationship of abuse and and marginality.
Learning Objective #2: have a greater understanding of the resulting adverse health outcomes of abuse.
From birth, women are a marginalized population vulnerable to abuse. Physical and sexual abuse adversely affects women’s health.  Adverse long-term health outcomes associated with a history of abuse include, but are not limited to, anxiety, depression, and perimenstrual symptoms. Recent research suggests that abused women also suffer PTSD.  Research is lacking regarding the relationship of marginality, abuse and PTSD.

Purpose: To examine the relationship between marginality, abuse (physical and/or sexual abuse), and health outcomes of anxiety, depression and PTSD scores in women. 

Methods: A secondary analysis of 568 healthy women (35% minorities) from the community who had participated in a study of PMS.  Women with chronic diseases, diagnosed physical or psychological problems, and who were on birth control pills were excluded. Childhood, adolescent and adult abuse history data were obtained. All participants completed a MMPI-2.  Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Pearson and Spearman correlations were computed.

Findings: Significant relationships between abuse and PTSD resulted (p<.01). PTSD had a strong, significant correlation with anxiety, depression, and marginality.   Marginality and PTSD had significant positive correlations with physical, sexual and abuse across the lifespan and PMS. Women without a history of physical and/or sexual abuse had significantly lower mean PTSD scores than abused women. PTSD scores increased as marginality increased.

Discussion: Health, both physical and mental health, is adversely impacted by abuse. Abuse and the resulting adverse health outcomes may encourage this vulnerable population to be further marginalized, further distanced from the decision-making center of society. Marginalized women are at higher risk for abuse and PTSD.

(Funded by NIH Grant No. R01-NR02705.)

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