| Incarcerated women experience significantly higher rates of trauma exposure, particularly interpersonal violence (IPV), than women in the community. Surveys of this population have demonstrated strong links between IPV experiences and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Female offenders’ rates of PTSD are considerably higher than women in the general population. Both theoretical and empirical work suggests that malleable mediating factors underlie the relationship between IPV and PTSD, including: coping self-efficacy (CSE), social reactions to disclosures, and feelings of shame. However, few studies have measured CSE, social reactions, or shame in incarcerated samples, and no work has been done that includes the simultaneous assessment of these factors as mediators in the relationship between IPV and PTSD. The present study aimed to expand upon current literature by comprehensively evaluating the relationships among trauma exposure, CSE, social reactions, shame, and PTSD among a sample of randomly selected female offenders (N = 150). Multivariate analyses were conducted to examine to what extent trauma was associated with CSE, social reactions, shame, and PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, structural equation modeling was employed to test CSE, social reactions, and shame as potential mediators of the relationship between IPV exposure and PTSD. There was a significant indirect of effect of IPV upon symptoms of PTSD via negative social reactions and shame, such that as frequency of IPV increased so did perceptions of negative social reactions to disclosure, and as negative reactions increased, so did feelings of shame and ultimately symptoms of posttraumatic stress. There was no significant indirect effect of IPV to PTSD via CSE; however, shame mediated the relationship between CSE and PTSD. These findings demonstrate the importance of IPV, CSE, negative social reactions, and shame as predictors of PTSD, and highlight the complexity of the relationships among these constructs. The results of this study have the potential to contribute to our knowledge of female inmate populations and their mental health needs (e.g., prevention and treatment of traumatic symptoms).
Key Words: incarcerated women, interpersonal violence, coping self-efficacy, negative social reactions, posttraumatic stress disorder |