Assessing the effects of violence on women in battering relationships with the Keane MMPI-PTSD scale

✍ Scribed by Sean Perrin; Vincent B. van Hasselt; Isandy Basilio; Michel Hersen

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 647 KB
• Volume: 9
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-9867
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.2490090409

✦ Synopsis

Stress Disorder (PTSD) Scale (PK) has proven to be a reliable and valid measure of PTSD in combat veterans. However, fw studies have examined the scale's validity in battered women, who ofen present with PTSD. Using empirically derived cutoff scores for the PK Scale, 69 battered women were assigned to PTSD-Positive and PTSD-Negative groups and then compared on measures of PTSD, distress, social support, and history of abuse in and out of the battering relationship. The PTSD-Positive group scored significantly higher across all measures of PTSD and distress, supporting the concurrent validity of the PK Scale in this population. However, the two groups differed only for the fiequenq of death threats, suggesting that the PK Scale i s only mildly sensitive to the level of trauma exposure. Finally, lower levels of perceived social support were found in the PTSD-Positive than the PTSD-Negative group. Implications of these findings for the assessment of PTSD in battered women are discussed.