Kamran Ehsan Mehwish, Rowland David L
Department of Professional Psychology, Bahria University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
Department of Psychology, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN 46383, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 3;18(5):2478. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052478.
Domestic abuse of women is a serious problem worldwide that has economic, physical, and psychological consequences, yet in many countries and cultures, victims often have little access to psychological support. Using a pre-post design, we investigated the effects of psychological intervention using an imagery-based therapy in women showing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from spousal domestic abuse. Forty women, referred from outpatient clinics in Pakistan and meeting inclusion criteria, underwent individual trauma counseling for 10-12 weeks using the principles of Eidetic Therapy, an imagery-based therapy that circumvents heavy reliance on verbal skills and narratives. Women showed significant reductions in PTSD by the end of treatment. Predictors of treatment gains included type of abuse, PTSD level at the outset of therapy, and years in the relationship. Neither economic resources or literacy, nor abuser or victim characteristics, predicted the amount of improvement. In conclusion, therapy was associated with a reduction in PTSD symptoms regardless of literacy level of participants. This reduction in PTSD was notable because, unlike many situations involving spousal abuse, these women were generally not in a position to leave their relationship, and hence the women might have experienced continued exposure to abuse. Context/cultural-based explanations for these findings are presented and discussed.
对妇女的家庭暴力是一个全球性的严重问题，会产生经济、身体和心理后果，然而在许多国家和文化中，受害者往往很难获得心理支持。我们采用前后测设计，调查了基于意象疗法的心理干预对因配偶家庭暴力而患有创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的女性的影响。从巴基斯坦门诊诊所转介来的40名符合纳入标准的女性，使用遗觉疗法的原则接受了10至12周的个体创伤咨询，遗觉疗法是一种基于意象的疗法，避免了对语言技能和叙述的过度依赖。治疗结束时，女性的PTSD症状显著减轻。治疗效果的预测因素包括虐待类型、治疗开始时的PTSD水平以及恋爱年限。经济资源、识字能力、施虐者或受害者特征均无法预测改善程度。总之，无论参与者的识字水平如何，治疗都与PTSD症状的减轻有关。PTSD症状的减轻值得注意，因为与许多涉及配偶虐待的情况不同，这些女性通常无法离开她们的关系，因此这些女性可能会持续遭受虐待。本文提出并讨论了基于背景/文化对这些发现的解释。
