The role of disclosure, social support and social constraints for posttraumatic growth in women survivors of intimate partner violence

Abstract

Very little is known about posttraumatic growth (PTG) in women survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and what factors promote or hinder it. Thus, the main aim of this dissertation was to explore direct and indirect links between intimate partner violence and posttraumatic growth through disclosure (the number of barriers to disclosure the women face, the number of different sources the women disclose the abuse to), social support (tangible, emotional, informational support) and social constraints. By analyzing 244 responses from women survivors of different forms of IPV through structural equation modelling, two paths to growth were determined: challenging and positive. The challenging path to PTG for the women survivors of IPV would be accruing through social constraints. While a positive path to PTG occurs through increased disclosure to a wider circle of potential help providers. Thus, wider disclosure facilitates growth, and social constraints appear to be another difficult experience that IPV survivors must overcome that contributes to the experience of greater PTG. Based on the findings of the dissertation, improvements to the latest Model of PTG (Tedeschi et al., 2018), as well as practical recommendations and implications for decision-makers, various specialists, and the women survivors of IPV, are offered.