Violence Against Women

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Abuse Characteristics and Coping Resources as Predictors of

Problem-Focused Coping Strategies Among Battered Women
Chiara Sabina and R. Scott Tindale
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN 2008; 14; 437
DOI: 10.1177/1077801208314831

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 Violence Against Women
Volume 14 Number 4
April 2008 437-456
© 2008 Sage Publications
10.1177/1077801208314831
Abuse Characteristics and http://vaw.sagepub.com
hosted at
Coping Resources as Predictors http://online.sagepub.com

of Problem-Focused Coping
Strategies Among Battered Women
Chiara Sabina
University of New Hampshire
R. Scott Tindale
Loyola University Chicago

The current study examines the predictors of three types of problem-focused coping
strategies (i.e., amount of help seeking, pursuing an order of protection, and staying
away from the abuser) among battered women. Predictor variables are categorized as
abuse characteristics and three types of coping resources (i.e., personal, material, and
social coping resources). Data from the Chicago Women’s Health Risk Study (N = 478)
are used. Results show that enactment of problem-focused coping strategies is associ-
ated with amount of abuse, severity, harassment, and power and control tactics. Coping
resources such as general health, employment, and social support influence enactment
of coping strategies.

Keywords: battered women; coping; resources

B attered women respond to abuse in ways ranging from passive and active self-
defense to formal help-seeking strategies (M. A. Dutton, 1992). The stress and
coping literature proposes that coping responses are influenced by the specific
person–environment interaction, including ontogenetic factors, social resources, and
life stressors (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Moos, 1995). The current study examined
three specific problem-focused coping strategies battered women may employ: help
seeking, pursuing an order of protection, and staying away from abuser. Abuse charac-
teristics and coping resources were used to predict enactment of the specific problem-
focused coping strategies. The study addresses which coping resources are associated
with specific problem-focused coping strategies. Investigation of these issues allows for
a better contextual understanding of the responses of battered women and identification
of avenues for intervention.

Authors’ Note: This article is based on the first author’s master’s thesis. We would like to acknowledge
Emil Posavac, John Edwards, Murray Straus, and other researchers at the Family Research Laboratory
and Crimes Against Children Research Center for insightful comments on earlier drafts. Rose Medeiros
kindly provided statistical expertise.

437

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438 Violence Against Women

The Coping Model

Coping is defined as “constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to man-
age specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding
the resources of the person” (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, p. 141). This transactional
model takes into account the particular stressor and the context over time (Lazarus,
1999; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Moos & Holahan, 2003). Coping is a process that
could potentially mitigate the negative effects of stressors.
Efforts to cope with stressors can be differentiated based on their function. Emotion-
focused coping is directed at lessening the emotional distress produced by a stressor. This
includes such acts as avoidance, minimization, distancing, selective attention, positive
comparisons, and extracting positive value from negative events (Lazarus & Folkman,
1984). This coping strategy involves changing the subjective appraisal of a situation
without changing the objective situation itself. Emotion-focused coping is usually corre-
lated with depression and psychological distress (Holahan, Moos, & Schaefer, 1996).
Problem-focused coping, on the other hand, is directed at changing the objective situa-
tion. Such actions can include problem solving, gathering information, weighing options,
choosing between options, and acting upon choice. This form of coping is most often
used when the situation is appraised as being amenable to change and when social sup-
port is available (Holahan & Moos, 1987).
The types of coping strategies used are a function of the stressor and the coping
resources available (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Moos & Holahan, 2003). Although
people have a myriad of resources on which they can draw, most resources fall into the
areas of personal, material, or social. Personal resources include health, positive beliefs,
problem-solving skills, and social skills. External resources include social support and
material resources. Social support includes receiving emotional, informational, or tan-
gible support from people (Moos, 1995). These resources are argued to “precede and
influence coping” (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, p. 158) and affect selection and use of
coping strategies (Moos & Holahan, 2003). Resources allow for reliance on active or
problem-focused coping strategies that in turn might mitigate the negative effects of
stressful events (Hobfoll, Freedy, Green, & Solomon, 1996).

Coping and Battered Women

Relatively recently researchers began to examine the coping strategies battered
women employ (e.g., Finn, 1985; Mills, 1985; Mitchell & Hodson, 1983). Early research
found that battered women were deficient in coping skills, especially problem-solving
strategies, and predominately employed emotion-focused coping strategies (Finn, 1985;
Mitchell & Hodson, 1983, 1986). Nonetheless, problem-focused coping strategies are
used among battered women, specifically battered women who are successful in gaining
safety. For example, one study by Horton and Johnson (1993) showed that about 95% of
women who left their abusive partner spoke to someone or some agency and more than

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 Sabina, Tindale / Problem-Focused Coping Strategies 439

80% of women succeeded in legal separation or divorce. Lerner and Kennedy (2000)
found that less emotion-focused coping strategies and more problem-focused coping
strategies were associated with greater self-efficacy for leaving an abusive relationship.
Additionally, problem-focused coping was found to be associated with decreased hope-
lessness among battered women (Clements & Sawhney, 2000).
Conceptual models underscore the importance of abuse characteristics and resources
as determinants of women’s reactions to abuse. M. A. Dutton’s (1992) model of women’s
response to battering includes the following mediators of the relationship between
abuse and women’s responses to abuse: institutional response, personal strengths and
resources, tangible resources and social support, personal historical factors, additional
life stressors, and positive aspects of the relationship with the abuser. Gondolf and Fisher
(1988) proposed the survivor hypothesis that states that battered women increase their
help-seeking efforts as violence increases. They further suggest that resources available
to women, commitment to the relationship, presence of children, and past abuse experi-
ence mediate this relationship. Basic premises of the survivor conceptualization include
the following: (a) Battered women are logical and assertive in their response to domes-
tic violence; (b) They respond to the abuse with help-seeking efforts that are largely
unmet; and (c) If battered women stay in the relationship, it is for lack of know-how,
options, finances, or inadequacy of intervention efforts (Gondolf & Fisher, 1988).
Numerous studies have supported this view (M. A. Dutton, 1992; Ellsberg, Winkvist,
Peña, & Stenlund, 2001; Gelles, 1976; Horton & Johnson, 1993; Hutchison & Hirschel,
1998; West, Kaufman Kantor, & Jasinski, 1998).
Experiencing abuse from an intimate partner is a major negative life event that
causes multiple disruptions across physical, personal, and social domains (Davies,
Lyon, & Monte-Catania, 1998; M. A. Dutton, 1992; Hoff, 1990). Battered women can
experience any or all of the following types of abuse: physical, emotional/psycholog-
ical, sexual, and economic. Physical violence is widespread, varies in severity, and is
often repeated (M. A. Dutton, 1992). Jacobson and Gottman (1998), in a longitudinal
study of 63 battering couples, report that psychological abuse can be especially dan-
gerous because it causes women to doubt their own sanity and, therefore, is an ulti-
mate form of control. Others (Follingstad, Rutledge, Berg, Hause, & Polek, 1990;
Walker, 2000) report that battered women perceive emotional abuse as more damag-
ing than physical abuse. The current study, in line with prior research (see Waldrop &
Resick, 2004, for a review), examined frequency of physical violence, severity of
physical violence, harassment, and power and control to characterize the abuse par-
ticipants experienced.
There is evidence that resources influence the decisions and outcomes of battered
women. Women with more material resources are more likely to leave the battering
relationship (Gelles, 1976; Horton & Johnson, 1993; I. Johnson, 1992; Waldrop &
Resick, 2004). Battered women who left their batterers often recall the importance of
shelters and help from family, friends, and coworkers (Davies & Srinivasan, 1995;
Davis, 2002). Furthermore, women with more family support are less likely to develop

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440 Violence Against Women

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Astin, Lawrence, & Foy, 1993) and are more
likely to engage in problem-focused coping strategies (Scarpa, Haden, & Hurley,
2006). Employment and social support were found to buffer against continued abuse
among a sample of women who sought shelter services earlier in their lives (Bybee &
Sullivan, 2005). Access to and utility of resources might affect a variety of battered
women’s outcomes, from self-esteem to leaving the relationship.
Recently, researchers have found that the influence of social support varies across
levels of severity of abuse such that at high levels of severity, social support does not act
as a buffer of abuse (Goodman, Dutton, Vankos, & Weinfurt, 2005; Liang, Goodman,
Tummala-Narra, & Weintraub, 2005). Goodman et al. (2005) found that for women
with a high history of violence, social support did not buffer against re-abuse. This effect
was also found in a study examining the influence of community violence victimization
on PTSD symptoms. Although perceived social support acted as a buffer of PTSD
symptoms, this effect diminished at high levels of community violence (Scarpa et al.,
2006). These studies point to the need to closely examine the positive effect found for
social support.

The Current Study

It is important to formulate a set of variables that can be used to predict the prob-
lem-focused coping strategies of battered women. The coping and stress model allows
theoretical organization of such variables, namely, abuse characteristics and coping
resources (i.e., personal, material, and social). Problem-focused coping strategies can
include help seeking, legal action, or staying away from the abuser. The current study
seeks to answer the following questions:

1. To what extent have battered women in the sample engaged in problem-focused

coping strategies?
2. What are the relationships between abuse characteristics, coping resources, and
problem-focused coping strategies?
3. Which variables (abuse characteristics and coping resources) best predict problem-
focused coping strategies (i.e., amount of help seeking, pursuing an order of pro-
tection, and staying away from the abuser)?
4. Does the effect of social support on problem-focused coping strategies differ across
levels of severity?

The current study expands previous studies by including various abuse character-
istics and a variety of coping resources and employing a theoretically driven concep-
tualization of coping strategies. Additionally, the community-based, low-income,
and largely minority sample allows for study of women traditionally excluded from
scientific research.

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 Sabina, Tindale / Problem-Focused Coping Strategies 441

Method

Data from the Chicago Women’s Health Risk Study (CWHRS; Block, 2000a) were
used in this study. The independent variables were abuse characteristics (i.e., number
of abusive incidents per year, most severe incident, harassment, and power and control
experienced in the relationship), personal coping resources (i.e., general health percep-
tion and lack of depressive symptoms), material coping resources (i.e., highest level of
education, personal income in 1996, and employment status), and social coping
resources (i.e., support network). The dependent variables were amount of help seek-
ing, pursuing an order of protection, and staying away from the abusive partner.

Procedure
The CWHRS 1995-1998 was conducted by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information
Authority to develop a profile of risk factors directly related to lethal or life-threatening
outcomes in intimate partner violence (Block, 2000a, 2000b). Data were collected
on three populations: nonabused community women, abused community women, and
women who were murdered because of partner violence. The fatal group data were col-
lected through archival analysis and proxy interviews. The nonfatal community samples
were collected at Chicago health centers, clinics, and hospitals. Women were randomly
screened for physical abuse (N = 2,616) regardless of their presenting condition, and of
those meeting criteria for inclusion, 705 were interviewed during 1997-1998. The three
screening questions were as follows: “Has your intimate partner ever hit, slapped,
kicked or otherwise physically hurt or threatened you?”; “Has your intimate partner
ever forced you to engage in sexual activities that made you uncomfortable?”; and “Are
you afraid of your intimate partner?” Any positive response to the three screening ques-
tions within the last year constituted classification as abused. During the interviews,
abuse status was verified through a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale,
resulting in 497 women being classified as abused and 208 being classified as
nonabused (see Block, 2000b, for discussion of the discrepancy between screen abuse
status and interview abuse status). The 45-min interviews covered demographics;
household composition; physical health; pregnancy; substance abuse; mental health,
including depression, anxiety, and PTSD; firearm availability; social support network;
the partner’s control, harassment, or stalking; and interventions and help seeking.

Participants
The current study used the abused women with nonfatal outcomes group at Time 1
to develop a profile of women who were abused within the last year and possibly
engaged in problem-focused coping strategies. Nineteen cases were excluded from
analyses because the participants reported on a same-sex relationship, resulting in a
sample of 478 women in heterosexual relationships who were abused in the prior year.

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442 Violence Against Women

Table 1
Descriptive Statistics of the CWHRS Sample
Variable Categories %

Age (N = 478) 18 to 20 17.8

21 to 25 15.9
26 to 30 17.2
31 to 40 34.1
41 to 50 13.0
51 to 67 2.1
Education (n = 477) No schooling 0.4
Elementary school 7.5
Some high school 39.8
High school grad 23.5
Some college 21.8
Junior college 4.0
Four-year college 2.1
Some graduate school 0.6
Graduate or professional degree 0.2
Race (n = 475) Black/African American 68.8
Hispanic 21.7
Other 9.5
Marital status (n = 475) Single 56.4
Married 19.4
Common law marriage 4.4
Separated 8.6
Divorced 9.3
Widowed 1.7
Engaged 0.2
Household income 1996 (n = 398) Less than $5,000 33.7
$5,001 to $10,000 19.1
$10,001 to $20,000 21.9
$20,001 to $30,000 10.3
$30,001 to $40,000 5.0
$40,001 to $50,000 4.5
More than $50,000 5.5

Note: CWHRS = Chicago Women’s Health Risk Study.

Age ranged from 18 to 67, with a mode age of 31 to 40. The sample was largely
African American (68.8%) and predominately low income. Table 1 shows demo-
graphic information on the sample. Fifty-six percent of respondents reported abuse
by their current partner, whereas 44% reported being abused in a past relationship
within the last year. Almost 7% reported having more than one abusive partner in the
last year. Respondents were in the abusive relationships for 1 year or less to more
than 15 years, with a mode of 5 to 15 years (24%). Eighty percent of the respondents
had children.

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 Sabina, Tindale / Problem-Focused Coping Strategies 443

Materials
An in-depth review of materials used in the CWHRS was published by Block
(2000a). This section provides an overview of the measures analyzed in the
current study.

Abuse characteristics. Abuse characteristics studied were number of incidents in

last year, most severe incident in last year, harassment, and power and control. To
determine how many abusive incidents the participant experienced within the last
year, a calendar history was used. The instrument was a blank set of calendars on
which participants first recorded important events such as holidays, birthdays, and
paydays. Participants then recalled the occurrence and timing of violent episodes
within the last year, and the interviewer recorded them on a calendar using a series
of codes. For analytic use, the number of violent events was summed to create an
index of violent events within the last year.
Working in collaboration with the calendar history, a modified version of the
Campbell Incident Severity Scale (Campbell, 1986) was used to record the severity
of violent incidents. The coding system includes both threats and injury resulting
from abuse. The coding system for the present study was 1 = threat to hit; 2 = slap-
ping, pushing, or throwing something; 3 = punching, kicking, or slight injury; 4 =
getting beaten up, choked, burned, or serious injury; 5 = reported weapon threat or
severe injury; and 6 = reported weapon use. For the current study, the code for the
most severe incident in the last year was used following the recommendation of
Campbell (1986).
The Harassment in Abusive Relationships: A Self-Report Scale (HARASS;
Sheridan, 1992) was used to measure stalking and other harassment behaviors.
Respondents were asked to indicate whether their partner had enacted any of the 19
harassing acts, such as following the respondent, showing up without warning, and
threatening to harm the kids if the respondent left. The HARASS has an alpha coef-
ficient of .86. Positive responses were summed to create an index of 0 to 19 acts.
Power and control was measured by five items used in the Violence Against Women
Survey (H. Johnson, 1996). Respondents indicated if in the last year an intimate part-
ner did any of the five controlling acts, such as “tried to limit contact with family or
friends.” Responses were summed to create an index of controlling acts ranging from
0 to 5. An alpha coefficient of .75 resulted from the current sample.

Personal coping resources. Personal coping resources included general health

perception and a lack of depressive symptoms score. General health perception was
measured by one question adapted from the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS; Hays,
Sherbourne, & Mazel, 1995). Respondents were asked how they would rate their
general health compared to women their age. Response choices were poor, fair,
good, very good, and excellent. Responses were reverse coded such that 5 indicated

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444 Violence Against Women

an excellent perception of health. Four questions from the MOS (Hays et al., 1995)
were used to target depressive symptoms during the last month with responses rang-
ing from none of the time (1) to all of the time (5). Respondents were asked how
often they felt “blue or downhearted,” for example. The statements that respondents
endorsed all or most of the time were summed. Alpha for the four items was .68
(Block, 2000b). Additionally, if the respondent indicated a diagnosis of depression
during the interview, one was added to the score. This resulted in a scale from 0 to
5, which was reverse coded such that a high score indicated a lack of depression.

Material coping resources. Material coping resources included personal income,

education level, and employment. Response choices regarding the amount of per-
sonal income were nine income ranges from less than $5,000 to more than $100,000
in $10,000 intervals. Response choices for education level ranged from primary
school to graduate school, and employment response choices were full- or part-time
job holder, homemaker, student, or unemployed. For analysis, the unemployed group
was used as the comparison group.

Social coping resources. The collaborators of the CWHRS developed a 12-item

scale to assess social support (Block, 2000b). The three subscales were access to and
knowledge of resources, tangible help in emergencies, and acceptance and support.
Respondents indicated if they agreed or disagreed with statements such as “there is
someone I can talk to openly about anything.” The number of items with which
respondents agreed were summed to create a support network score ranging from
0 to 12. The alpha for this scale was .84.

Outcome variables. The outcome variables include three problem-focused coping

strategies (i.e., amount of help seeking, pursuing an order of protection, and staying
away from the abuser). Participants were asked if they, within the last year, talked
things over with someone they knew or contacted an agency or counselor, a doctor
or medical center, or the police after any of these incidents. A score of help seeking
was the number of items to which a respondent answered yes.
Two additional questions also demonstrated problem-focused coping behaviors,
such as pursuing an order of protection and staying away from the abuser within the
last year. Response choices were yes and no.

Results

Abuse characteristics, coping resources, and problem-focused coping strategies

were explored using descriptives, correlations, and regressions. One linear regres-
sion and two logistic regressions were run to examine the predictors of problem-
focused coping strategies. The interaction between severity (low or high) and social
support was also tested for each dependent variable.

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 Sabina, Tindale / Problem-Focused Coping Strategies 445

Description of the Sample

The range in responses for frequency of physical abuse and most severe incident
represents a very diverse sample with regard to physical assault experiences. Twenty-
nine percent of participants reported they experienced 1 abusive incident in the last
year, 34% reported 2 to 4 incidents, 15% reported 5 to 10 incidents, and 22% reported
11 to 172 incidents, with a mean of 10 incidents. With respect to most severe incident,
4% reported a threat to hit; 23% reported slapping, pushing, or throwing something;
24% reported punching, kicking, or slight injury; 23% reported getting beaten up,
choked, burned, or serious injury; 14% reported weapon threat or severe injury; and
12% reported weapon use.
The variable measuring number of incidents had a skewness of 4.26 and kurtosis
of 22.10; therefore, a base-10 logarithm of the variable was taken in an attempt to
normalize the distribution (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). The transformation reduced
skewness to .85 and kurtosis to –.07, producing a near-normal distribution. Further
analyses on number of incidents in the past year were run on the log of the variable.
Research Question 1 targeted the extent to which the sample of battered women
engaged in the outcome variables (i.e., help seeking, pursuing an order of protection,
and staying away from the abuser). Ninety percent of the sample engaged in at least
one of these problem-focused coping strategies. A large majority of the sample
sought at least one type of help (81%); 19% did not enact any help seeking. The most
frequent type of help sought was talking to someone (71%), followed by contacting
police (40%), getting medical help (24%), and lastly, contacting an agency or coun-
selor (18%). Roughly half of the sample (52%) left the abuser within the prior
year. Pursuing or obtaining an order of protection was the least often enacted type of
problem-focused coping strategy (13%).

Relationships Between Variables

Table 2 reports the correlations between variables. An increase in abuse as indi-
cated by the abuse characteristics was associated with an increase in help seeking and
pursuing an order of protection (rs ranging from .14 to .38) and a decrease in leaving
the abuser (rs ranging from –.09 to –.36). The relationships between coping resources
and outcome variables show that there are almost no significant correlations between
these groups of variables. Lastly, the relationships between abuse characteristics and
coping resources show that an increase in abuse is associated with a decrease in cop-
ing resources (rs ranging from –.12 to –.32).

Predictors of Problem-Focused Coping Strategies

Predictors of amount of help seeking. A linear regression was run with amount of
help seeking as the dependent variable (see Table 3). Specifically, the log number of

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446 Violence Against Women

Table 2
Correlation Matrix
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Log incidents —
Most severe incident .30** —
Harassment .36** .45** —
Power and control .33** .35** .61** —
General health –.19** –.08 –.12* –.16** —
Lack of depression –.32** –.06 –.21** –.28** .34** —
Education –.18** –.03 –.07 –.03 .14* .16** —
Personal income –.12** .02 –.02 –.07 –.01 .10 .28** —
Support network –.23** –.06 –.08 –.17** –.26** .48** .09 .09 —
Amount of help
seeking .20** .38** .34** .27** –.06 .01 –.01 .04 .13* —
Order of protection .02 .21** .18** .14* –.03 .02 .01 .03 .06 .35** —
Stay away or leave
abuser .02 .17** .32** .28** .08 .01 .09 .02 .06 .16** .06 —

*p ≤ .01. **p ≤ .001.

Table 3
Summary of Regression Analysis for Variables
Predicting Amount of Help Seeking (n = 461)
Variable B SE β

Log incidents in year .21 .10 .10*

Most severe incident .13 .06 .16*
Harassment .04 .02 .14*
Power and control .06 .04 .08
General health –.06 .05 –.07
Lack of depression –.00 .04 –.00
Education level –.01 .04 –.01
Personal income .02 .04 .02
Employment
Part-/full-time .10 .12 .04
Homemaker –.27 .19 –.07
Student –.12 .16 –.03
Support network .05 .02 .15**
Severity × Support Network .03 .02 .13†
Overall R2 = .24
†
p ≤ .10. *p ≤ .05. **p ≤ .01.

incidents (β = .10, p < .05), most severe incident (β = .16, p < .05), harassment (β =
.14, p < .05), and social support (β = .15, p < .001) significantly predicted amount of
help seeking. All of these relationships were in the positive direction, meaning that

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 Sabina, Tindale / Problem-Focused Coping Strategies 447

Table 4
Summary of Logistic Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting
Seeking Order of Protection (n = 459)
Variable β SE Wald χ2 Odds Ratio

Log incidents in year –.46 .32 2.06 0.63

Most severe incident .64*** .19 11.85 1.89
Harassment .06 .05 1.68 1.06
Power and control .29* .15 3.87 1.34
General health –.10 .14 0.47 0.91
Lack of depression .05 .11 0.23 1.05
Education level .03 .13 0.06 1.03
Personal income .01 .13 0.01 1.01
Employment
Part-/full-time .77* .36 4.65 2.16
Homemaker 1.15* .56 4.20 3.17
Student .27 .55 0.25 1.32
Support network .15 .07 5.16 1.16
Severity × Support Network –.09† .05 2.83 0.92
Nagelkerke R2 .16
†
p ≤ .10. *p ≤ .05. ***p ≤ .001.

as number of incidents, severity, harassment, and social support increased, amount

of help seeking increased. Additionally, the interaction of severity and support net-
work was a marginally significant predictor (β = .13, p = .08) of amount of help seek-
ing; at higher levels of severity, support network had a greater influence in predicting
help seeking. The overall model had an R2 of .24, F(13, 447) = 10.58, p < .001.

Predictors of pursuing an order of protection. A logistic regression was run with

pursuing an order of protection as the dependent variable (see Table 4). Nagelkerke
R2 for the overall model was .16. Results show that most severe incident, Wald
χ2(1) = 11.85, p < .001, power and control, Wald χ2(1) = 3.87, p < .05, being
employed full- or part-time versus being unemployed, Wald χ2(1) = 4.65, p < .05,
and being a homemaker versus being unemployed, Wald χ2(1) = 4.20, p < .05, sig-
nificantly predicted pursuing an order of protection. All of these predictors were
associated with an increase in the odds of pursuing an order of protection.
Additionally, the interaction of severity and support network approached signifi-
cance, Wald χ2(1) = 2.83, p = .09; at higher levels of severity, support network had
a less significant influence in predicting the odds of pursuing an order of protection.

Predictors of staying away from the abuser. A logistic regression was run with
leaving the abuser as the dependent variable (see Table 5). Nagelkerke R2 for the
overall model was .22. Results show that harassment, Wald χ2(1) = 13.01, p < .001,

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448 Violence Against Women

Table 5
Summary of Logistic Regression Analysis for Variables
Predicting Leaving Abuser (n = 463)
Variable β SE Wald χ2 Odds Ratio

Log incidents in year –.31 .22 1.99 0.73

Most severe incident .03 .13 0.05 1.03
Harassment .14*** .04 13.01 1.15
Power and control .23* .09 6.26 1.26
General health .20* .10 3.85 1.22
Lack of depression –.01 .08 0.01 0.99
Education level .10 .09 1.26 1.11
Personal income –.02 .09 0.07 0.98
Employment
Part-/full-time –.19 .25 0.58 0.83
Homemaker –1.75*** .50 12.40 0.17
Student –.25 .34 0.55 0.78
Support network .02 .04 0.13 1.02
Severity × Support Network –.01 .04 0.03 1.01
Nagelkerke R2 = .22

*p ≤ .05. ***p ≤ .001.

power and control, Wald χ2(1) = 6.26, p < .05, and health, Wald χ2(1) = 3.85, p < .05,
significantly predicted leaving the abuser. These variables were associated with an
increase in the odds of staying away from the abuser. Being a homemaker, Wald χ2(1) =
12.40, p < .001, significantly hindered the odds of staying away from the abuser.

Discussion

The current study sought to examine the predictors of three types of problem-
focused coping strategies (i.e., amount of help seeking, pursuing an order of protec-
tion, and staying away from the abuser). Predictor variables were categorized as
abuse characteristics to capture the abusive relationship and three types of coping
resources hypothesized by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) to represent level of
resources available (i.e., personal, material, and social coping resources).
Clearly, a large majority of the sample engaged in problem-focused coping.
Ninety percent of participants engaged in at least one of the three types of measured
problem-focused coping strategies. Approximately 50% of the sample stayed away
from the abuser, and 81% sought help from at least one source. The rate of pursuing
or obtaining an order of protection was much lower, around 13%.

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 Sabina, Tindale / Problem-Focused Coping Strategies 449

Amount of Help Seeking

Help seeking increases battered women’s chances of ending the abuse (Ellsberg
et al., 2001). In the present study, more than 80% of the participants sought help
either from a friend, family member, medical personnel, police, counselor, or agency
staff. The most common form of help seeking was telling someone, followed by con-
tacting police, getting medical help, and seeking help from counselors or agency per-
sonnel. Other studies found similar rates of help seeking. H. Johnson (1996) reported
that three quarters of Canadian women told someone about the abuse. Horton and
Johnson (1993) note that 96% of those no longer living with their abuser told some-
one about the abuse, although they found slightly higher rates of seeking medical
attention, calling police, and contacting agency personnel than reported in the pre-
sent study. Other studies report a majority of the sample sought at least one type of
help (98.7%, Hutchison & Hirschel, 1998; 61%, West et al., 1998). A common trend,
however, is that informal help-seeking sources are tapped more often than formal
help-seeking sources (Bowker, 1983; Horton & Johnson, 1993; cf., Gondolf &
Fisher, 1988). Battered women might feel more comfortable talking to someone first
before seeking formal help that might entail unanticipated or unsolicited repercus-
sions (e.g., mandatory arrest; see Ferraro, 1989).
A crucial relationship is that of frequency and severity of abuse and help seeking.
Walker (1979) posits that battered women feel helpless to effect change and there-
fore are expected not to seek help. The survivor hypothesis posits the opposite rela-
tionship: increased help seeking in response to dangerous abuse (Gondolf & Fisher,
1988). The findings presented here show that as frequency of physical abuse, sever-
ity of abuse, and harassing behavior increase, amount of help seeking also increases.
These findings lend support to the survivor hypothesis by showing that battered
women respond to more abuse by engaging in more help-seeking efforts.
The current findings also target the importance of social support. Social support
is a variable that is often found to be related to problem-focused coping strategies
(Holahan & Moos, 1987). Social support might promote adaptive coping strategies
by promoting self-esteem and self-confidence. Alternatively, by talking out prob-
lems with someone, one is more likely to react logically (Holahan, Moos, & Bonin,
1997). For battered women, social support may be especially important because sup-
port networks might reinforce their worth, therefore emphasizing the need to act.
Furthermore, support networks might provide tangible support, such as a place to
stay or money, until battered women are able to reestablish themselves.
The marginally significant interaction of severity and social support indicates that
as severity increases, social support exacts a larger effect on amount of help seeking.
As abuse increases in severity, women may rely more on their support networks, and
the networks might be more helpful in prompting help seeking. Other studies looking
at the interaction of severity and social support have found the inverse relationship.

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450 Violence Against Women

However, this difference is likely due to the fact of varying variables of interest. For
example, Goodman et al. (2005) examined re-abuse during a 1-year period, a related
but different construct than help seeking. Social support might better promote help
seeking at high levels of severity, but the help seeking might not be successful in
terms of ending abuse over a 1-year period.

Pursuing or Obtaining an Order of Protection

Participants in the present study seldom pursued or obtained an order of protec-
tion. These findings are similar to other studies (e.g., Loue, 2001). Ellsberg et al.
(2001), who recorded the rate of contacting police, a related construct, found only
14% contacted police. Nonetheless, more than 50% of women who were able to leave
their abusers did get a restraining order (Horton & Johnson, 1993). An order of pro-
tection may be one avenue to safety, but it seems not to be the predominant one.
It is interesting that participants who were more severely physically assaulted were
more likely to seek an order of protection even though this act is often difficult. Hart
(1993) reports that battered women fear retaliation for pursuing a criminal justice inter-
vention. Battered women are most often killed when seeking legal remedies to their
relationships or when leaving the relationship (Browne, 1987). Batterers also may
escalate violence to coerce victims not to further pursue legal avenues. After review-
ing the potential consequences of seeking legal intervention, Hart (1993) concludes
that battered women may be much more likely to be concerned with preventing vio-
lence rather than penalizing the batterer. Apart from the future violence battered
women may receive from their abusers for legal redress, the criminal justice system
may blame the victim for the abuse or otherwise mishandle the case (D. G. Dutton,
1995; Ferraro, 1989; Hart, 1993). D. G. Dutton (1995), using probabilities from other
research articles, reports that only 0.4% of all arrests for domestic violence actually
culminate in punishment for the crime. For battered women who have to confront their
batterers within the courtroom and might be subject to more severe beatings, criminal
justice intervention might be an unattractive option.
Another quantitative study on predictors of follow-through on protection orders
was not able to find any significant predictors (M. A. Dutton, Goodman, & Bennett,
1999), indicating the need for more research. The current study found that even
though this problem-focused coping strategy was unlikely to be enacted, women
who were more severely abused and experienced more power and control tactics
from their abuser did pursue an order of protection, despite the difficulties and lim-
itations associated with this act. This result is in line with the survivor hypothesis.
Furthermore, being employed or a homemaker versus being unemployed were both
associated with an increased likelihood of pursuing an order of protection. Although
little is known about factors associated with pursuing an order of protection, it is pos-
sible that women in these employment groups require legal protection. Employed

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 Sabina, Tindale / Problem-Focused Coping Strategies 451

women may be harassed at their work site, interfering with their ability to work. This
intrusion might prompt women to pursue an order of protection. Alternatively, women
who are homemakers might have few other options to protect themselves from
the abuse.
The interaction found to be marginally significant indicated that at higher levels of
severity, social support plays a lesser role in predicting pursuing an order of protec-
tion. Perhaps women who are less severely abused rely on social support to pursue an
order of protection, whereas women who are more severely abused pursue an order
of protection regardless of social support. Women less severely abused might need the
confidence that support members give to pursue an order of protection. Women more
severely abused might not rely on that help and pursue an order of protection because
the abuse has become very severe, even potentially lethal.

Staying Away From the Abuser

A common problem-focused strategy of the women in this study was to stay away
from their abusers. “Why do they stay?” is the question asked most often of battered
women by laypeople and researchers alike (Rhodes & McKenzie, 1998). The reality,
however, is that many battered women do not stay (Hydén, 1999; M. P. Johnson &
Ferraro, 2000). For example, other studies reported that a large percentage of their
sample left the abuser. In the sample of Dobash and Dobash (1979), 88% of the sam-
ple left at least once after an abusive incident. Campbell, Rose, Kub, and Nedd (1998)
reported approximately 50% left their abusers, and Ellsberg et al. (2001) reported 41%.
The illusion of battered women remaining in their relationships might arise from the
common act of leaving the abuser many times before leaving permanently (LaViolette
& Barnett, 2000). That is, leaving is a process, not a one-time act (Ellsberg et al., 2001;
Ferraro & Johnson, 1983; Kirkwood, 1993). In a review of 15 years of qualitative
research regarding battered women, Steutel (1998) stated that battered women them-
selves described leaving as a process often filled with difficulty, hardship, loneliness,
and poverty.
In the current study, four factors surfaced as predictors of staying away from the
abuser: harassment, power and control, health, and employment. Harassment and
power and control represent aspects of psychological abuse, and health and employ-
ment represent coping resources. These results are consistent with other studies. In a
study of the effect of psychological abuse on stay/leave decisions, Arias and Pape
(1999) found that psychological abuse was a significant predictor of intentions to
leave an abusive relationship even after controlling for the effects of physical abuse.
In their study, physical abuse did not account for a significant amount of variance in
intentions to terminate the relationship. Another study (Herbert, Silver, & Ellard,
1991) compared women who were still in abusive relationships with those who had
left an abusive relationship. They found that women who had left experienced more

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452 Violence Against Women

verbal abuse than those who were still involved in abusive relationships. Research has
also shown that battered women object to, fear, and resent psychological abuse more
than physical abuse (Follingstad et al., 1990; Herbert et al., 1991; O’Leary, 1999).
These acts represent degradation, an attack on identity. A loss of identity precipitated
by psychological abuse may awaken women to how harmful abuse is and mobilize
them to act (Kirkwood, 1993). Additionally, psychological abuse might signal mari-
tal dissatisfaction more readily than physical abuse, leading to stronger intentions to
terminate the relationship (Jacobson, Gottman, Gortner, Berns, & Shortt, 1996).
The current study also points to the importance of resources. Homemakers in the
current sample were significantly less likely to stay away from the abuser. Because
income was not a significant predictor in the current study, it seems that other aspects
of homemaking predict not staying away from the abuser. It is probable that home-
makers have less time outside of their home and, therefore, less access to other people
who may provide advice or tangible support to leave the relationship. Time outside of
the home affords women an opportunity to plan an escape and seek help from others
(Davies et al., 1998; Hoff, 1990). Alternatively, women who are outside of the home
more might have already established a sense of self apart from the relationship.
Oftentimes, studies that follow women after leaving the abusive relationship cite the
difficult task of creating a new life (NiCarthy, 1987). Women who engage in activi-
ties outside of the home might have a head start on this process.
In line with the hypothesis of Lazarus and Folkman (1984), health was associated
with participants engaging in the problem-focused coping strategy of leaving the
abuser. Here, health is likely to make battered women less dependent on their partners.

Limitations
It is necessary to realize that the behaviors studied here are complex and multi-
caused. It is possible that variables not included in the study could moderate or medi-
ate the relationships reported. For example, the CWHRS did not measure at least two
important variables pertinent to Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) conceptualization of
coping. Appraisals of the stressors and personal and environmental constraints are
thought to play an important role in determining which coping strategy is used. Other
unanalyzed variables include the ones predicted by the battered woman syndrome
approach. By not including these variables, it is impossible to rule out that battered
women experienced learned helplessness, PTSD, or other symptoms that characterize
deficits that battered women may develop. The current study cannot speak to the emo-
tion-focused coping strategies the sample employed.
Furthermore, the measure of help seeking was limited in that it only measured
four types of help seeking. Spiritual alternatives were not included, and this type
of help seeking might be especially important to African Americans (El-Khoury
et al., 2004).

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 Sabina, Tindale / Problem-Focused Coping Strategies 453

Conclusion

The current study indicates that a large percentage of battered women are engag-
ing in problem-focused coping strategies. However, the strategies they use are linked
to their particular circumstances—the abuse they experience and resources that are
available to them. This contextualized understanding of battered women is impera-
tive for intervention efforts.
Police, agency personnel, medical staff, and others who respond to domestic vio-
lence should understand women who seek their help are likely experiencing substan-
tial abuse. Because enactment of formal help-seeking strategies is more common
among those who experience more frequent and severe abuse, their concerns should
be taken seriously. Furthermore, resources such as social support, physical health,
and employment could be bolstered not only in domestic violence shelters but also
in places with wide audiences, such as high schools. Such prevention and interven-
tion approaches might equip those who experience battering to engage in problem-
focused coping strategies.

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456 Violence Against Women

Chiara Sabina received her PhD in applied social psychology from Loyola University Chicago in 2005.
She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New
Hampshire. Her research interests include responses to domestic violence, the effects of multiple types of
victimization on mental health, dating violence, and special populations such as South Asians, Latinos,
and those in same-sex relationships.

R. Scott Tindale is a professor of psychology at Loyola University Chicago. His major areas of research
include small group performance, socially shared cognitions, individual and group decision making, and
social influence in groups. He is an associate editor at the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology:
Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes and Group Processes and Intergroup Relations and has
coedited six books and two journal special issues on various aspects of applied social psychology or group
processes.

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