Intimate Partner Violence, Existential Well-Being, and Africultural Coping in African American Women

Abstract

ABSTRACT Intimate partner violence (IPV), a significant public health problem among low-income African American women, often has negative sequelae. Despite this, many women in abusive partnerships report having meaningful lives. To advance our understanding of factors that promote resilience in this traumatized population, this investigation aimed to elucidate the potential mediating role of one culturally-salient factor, Africultural coping, in the relation between IPV (physical, non-physical) and existential well-being (i.e., meaning in life). The sample included 213 low-income African American women with a suicide attempt and IPV exposure in the prior year. Results from mediational analyses with bootstrapping partially support the study hypotheses. We found that (1) one form of IPV (nonphysical) was inversely related to existential well-being; (2) one form of IPV (physical IPV) was positively correlated with two of the four dimensions of this culturally-salient form of coping (spiritual-centered, ritual-centered); (3) four dimensions of Africultural coping, as well as the total score, correlated with existential well-being; and (4) Africultural coping as reflected in spiritual- and ritual-centered coping mediated the relation between IPV (physical, but not nonphysical) and existential well-being. The findings suggest that culturally responsive interventions that bolster Africultual coping behaviors may optimize the existing capacity of low-income African American women to manage stressful situations, such as IPV, in a manner that enhances the sense of meaning in their lives.