Stalking and Psychosocial Distress Following the Termination of an Abusive Dating Relationship: A Prospective Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to utilize a prospective methodology to better understand the extent to which women report stalking behaviors perpetrated by their abusive ex-partners and how these stalking experiences affect women’s psychological adjustment. Participants included 56 college women who completed measures of partner abuse and psychological adjustment prior to and after terminating an abusive dating relationship. A little over half of the women (51.8%) reported some type of stalking victimization following the termination of the abusive relationship. After controlling for baseline levels of psychological distress and partner abuse variables, experiences of post-relationship stalking victimization predicted greater levels of posttraumatic stress symptomatology and interpersonal sensitivity, whereas post-relationship stalking victimization was unrelated to depression and personal empowerment.

Department

Psychology, Prevention Innovations Research Center Pubs

Publication Date

11-2014

Journal Title

Violence Against Women

Publisher

Sage Publications

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1177/1077801214552911

Document Type

Article

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