• Sleeping With One Eye Open: Marital Abuse as an Antecedent of Poor Sleep
  Presented by: Amy J. Rauer, Mona El-Sheikh

• Domestic Violence in South Asian Families: A Human Ecological Perspective
  Presented by: Zain Shamoon

• Longitudinal Impact of Toddler's Exposure to Domestic Violence
  Presented by: Melissa P. Schnurr, Brenda J. Lohman

• Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Women's Mental Health
  Presented by: Gunnur Karakurt, Douglas Smith, Jason Whiting

Abstracts

Sleeping With One Eye Open: Marital Abuse as an Antecedent of Poor Sleep

Presented by: Amy J. Rauer, Mona El-Sheikh

In a diverse community sample of 241 married couples, we examined psychological abuse (PA) as a longitudinal predictor of sleep. Growth curve analyses revealed that higher initial levels of PA and increases in PA over time predicted greater sleep disturbances for both spouses. For husbands and wives, anxiety and depression mediated some of the associations between PA and sleep problems. For wives, moderation effects highlighted the importance of violence, anxiety, and depression in exacerbating sleep problems associated with PA. Results contribute significantly to the scant literature implicating the importance of the marital relationship for sleep, a critical component of health.

Domestic Violence in South Asian Families: A Human Ecological Perspective

Presented by: Zain Shamoon

While the issue of domestic violence heavily informs the lives of many South Asian women worldwide, it continues to be ignored. The following review seeks to utilize human ecological theory in order to comprehensively understand the phenomena of domestic violence as it is experienced by this specific world demographic.  Each respective level of ecological theory will be assessed to create a composite understanding of domestic violence in this population.  Additionally, rare studies that make explicit the use of this theory upon South Asian domestic violence will be reviewed and discussed.  Implications for practice and policy will be drawn.

Longitudinal Impact of Toddler's Exposure to Domestic Violence

Presented by: Melissa P. Schnurr, Brenda J. Lohman

 This study examined how exposure to domestic violence during early childhood impacted a variety of outcomes in middle childhood among a sample of low-income, minority children. Three waves of data from the Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study were used (N = 594; Ages 8-10, W3). Early exposure to domestic violence at one time point was not significantly related to any of the middle childhood outcomes; however, increases in DV from wave 1 to wave 2 had a significant negative impact on children's internalizing and externalizing problems and school engagement in middle childhood. Policy and education implications are explored.

Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Women's Mental Health

Presented by: Gunnur Karakurt, Douglas Smith, Jason Whiting

This study aims to explore the mental health needs of women who were victims of intimate partner violence. In order to explore this question, qualitative and quantitative data was collected from 35 women from a Midwestern domestic violence shelter. Hierarchical clustering was applied to quantitative data and content analysis was applied to qualitative data. Results indicated that women could be classified into one of three groups: women who are ready to change (mild symptoms), focused on negative symptoms (moderate symptoms), and focused on feelings of quilt and self blame (severe symptoms). Both qualitative and quantitative analysis supported three groups.