Posttraumatic Growth, Centrality of Event, Trauma Symptoms and Resilience: Profiles of Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

The current study used a person-oriented approach to investigate (a) potential distinctive groups of women survivors of IPV based on their posttraumatic growth (PTG), centrality of event, resilience, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) patterns, and (b) examine the role of sociodemographic (age, education, work status) and violence related (physical and emotional violence, time since last violence episode, psychological help) factors in distinguishing these groups. The study sample consisted of 421 women survivors of IPV, and latent profile analysis revealed four profiles: “negative impact” (11% of the sample), “positive growth” (46%), “low impact” (18%), and “distressed growth” (25%). Women age, education, received psychological help, frequency of physical and emotional violence, and time since last violence incident significantly distinguished some of the indicated profiles from each other. Findings of this study contribute to the existing literature by identifying different responses to IPV and investigating some of the theoretical assumptions that had not been comprehensively analyzed in the IPV literature. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed.