The role of general self-efficacy in intimate partner violence and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder among women veterans.

Webermann AR, Dardis CM, Iverson KM. The role of general self-efficacy in intimate partner violence and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder among women veterans. Journal of traumatic stress. 2022 Jun 1; 35(3):868-878.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

• CDA 10-029 – Intimate Partner Violence, Health, and Health Care Among Female Veterans
• IIR 16-062 – Recovering from Intimate Partner Violence Through Strengths and Empowerment (RISE): Tailoring and Evaluating a Patient-Centered Counseling Intervention for Women Veterans

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions

Search for Abstract from PubMed

---

Abstract:

Whereas some prior studies have assessed associations between general self-efficacy, intimate partner violence (IPV) experiences, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms cross-sectionally, there is limited research investigating the potential directions of these effects or the longitudinal effects over multiple assessment points. We investigated the role of general self-efficacy in experiences of IPV and PTSD symptoms across time among 411 women veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Online survey data were collected at baseline (Time 1; T1), 18 months after baseline (Time 2; T2), and 2 years after baseline (Time 3; T3). Structural equation models were used to test hypotheses that T2 general self-efficacy would mediate reciprocal associations between IPV experiences and PTSD symptoms while controlling for T2 IPV experiences, T1 PTSD symptoms, and demographic and military covariates (i.e., age, military sexual trauma, and combat exposure). Specifically, we hypothesized that T2 general self-efficacy would mediate the association between (a) T1 IPV experiences and T3 IPV experiences, (b) T1 IPV experiences and T3 PTSD symptoms, (c) T1 PTSD symptoms and T3 IPV experiences, and (d) T1 PTSD symptoms and T3 PTSD symptoms. Findings revealed that T1 PTSD symptoms predicted lower T2 general self-efficacy, and, in turn, lower T2 general self-efficacy was associated with higher T3 IPV experiences, 95% CI [0.06, 0.41]; no other hypotheses were supported. The findings speak to the importance of clinical interventions which promote general self-efficacy as well as assess and treat PTSD symptoms among women who experience IPV.