Jiepin Cao, PhD student, Qing Yang and Dori Steinberg, associate professors, Sean Convoy, assistant professor, and Janice Humphreys, professor, published "Symptom Trajectory among Formerly Abused Women: An Exploratory Study" in Issues in Mental Health Nursing. 

Abstract

Women who have experienced intimate partner violence suffer from symptoms that persist long after the abuse has ended. However, the patterns and trajectory of these symptoms are poorly understood. The objective of this longitudinal research was to explore symptom trajectory typologies. A latent class growth analysis with multi-outcomes modeling was used to explore typologies based on women’s (N = 30) trajectories over 4 months. Two distinct symptom typologies were identified: (1) consistently lessening symptom group (n = 16); (2) moderately worsening symptom group (n = 14). Women who experienced severe psychological vulnerability exhibited better symptom trajectories; a potential reflection of resilience in this population.

Citation