Abstract
This theoretical paper explores the need to use posttraumatic growth (PTG) as a framework when studying sexual minority women (SMW) who are survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) to examine the relationship between risk factors such as stress, anxiety and alcohol use and to understand the role of protective factors through mining for the presence of posttraumatic growth (PTG). Despite a call for continued research in this highly vulnerable population, representative studies of SMW and PTG remain extremely limited. Research that examines the relationship between IPV, behavioral health issues, and posttraumatic growth would provide the opportunity to develop tailored intervention models and opportunities for program development to decrease isolation and increase factors of posttraumatic growth. In particular, the impact of how interpersonal relationships as potential mediators and/or outcomes of posttraumatic growth (PTG) needs to be explored more thoroughly. PTG is a valuable framework for vulnerable populations such as sexual minority women because it focuses on how transformative change may result from traumatic experiences such as surviving IPV.
Highlights
This theoretical paper explores the need to use posttraumatic growth (PTG) as a framework when studying sexual minority women (SMW) who are survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV)
While we understand that general risk factors are higher for SMW, it is unclear as to whether or not the phenomenon of intimate partner violence occurs more in same-sex relationships
A thorough understanding of the prevalence of rates of IPV in same-sex relationships is challenged by a number of factors that include difficulty securing representative samples of queer women, difficulty or assumptions made between the perpetrator and the abuser, a general underreporting of the abuse, and a lack of a commonly agreed-upon definition of partner abuse [25,27]
Summary
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health issue and a prevalent social problem with up to 1.5 million women experiencing IPV in the United States in their lifetime, and upwards of. Most of the research conducted on IPV uses a heterocentric lens and focuses on heterosexual relationships. Researchers who explore IPV in same-sex relationships have shared diverse findings. Frankland and Brown [7] found that levels of coercive control and patterns of violence in same-sex relationships are similar to categories identified in research with heterosexual couples, but did not look exclusively at women, while Gehring and. Vaske [8] found that IPV in same-sex relationships led to increased levels of depressive symptoms. Other theorists have explored more mezzo factors such as Sorensen and Thomas [9] who investigated societal views towards IPV in same-sex relationships and Baker et al [10] who examined how cultural and systemic factors can be explored when gender biases are removed by looking at same-sex IPV
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