Programs for domestic violence (DV) victims and their families have grown exponentially over the last four decades. The evidence demonstrating the extent of their effectiveness, however, often has been criticized as stemming from studies lacking scientific rigor. A core reason for this critique is the widespread belief that credible evidence can…

This study examined the impact of resource constraints on the psychological well-being of survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), testing whether resource constraints is one mechanism that partially mediates the relationship between IPV and women's well-being. Although within-woman changes in resource constraints did not mediate the…

This 2-year longitudinal study investigated the relations between community and school violence exposure, witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV), family social support, and anxiety, within a sample of 100 school-age children (39% female, M age = 9.90 years). Using multilevel modeling, we found heterogeneity across children in terms of their…

Although researchers have found that survivors of intimate partner violence seek support from a multitude of sources, ranging from professionals to informal support networks, little is known about the extent to which community members reach out to help survivors. This study explored the type of support provided to survivors and various factors…

Intimate partner violence is a serious and pervasive social problem with deleterious consequences for survivors' well-being. The current study involved interviewing 160 survivors 6 times over 2 years to examine the role of social support in explaining or buffering these negative psychological consequences. The authors examined both between- and…

More and more researchers, evaluators, and policy makers are recognizing that in order to best understand the factors precipitating, supporting, and prohibiting intimate violence against women, we must often gather information directly from battered women themselves. Such data collection, however, is not without its risks to the women involved in…

While a small number of past studies have examined either situational, relational, or systems-level factors that influence battered women's use of either the police, prosecutorial, or court systems, no study to date has examined how these factors each influence women's intentions to reuse these systems. To address this gap, in-person interviews…

This article reviews evidence that an abuser's relationship to the child (whether a biological father, stepfather/father figure, or nonfather figure) is an important variable in understanding a child's adjustment. Although the level of physical abuse did not differ by grouping, stepfathers were the most emotionally abusive and children reported…