Community

2012
Allen NE, Larsen S, Trotter J, Sullivan CM. Exploring The Core Service Delivery Processes Of An Evidence-Based Community Advocacy Program For Women With Abusive Partners. Journal of Community Psychology. 2012;41 (1) :1-18. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcop.21502/abstract

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

Once an intervention has been found to be effective, it is important to examine the processes and factors within the program that led to its success. The current study examined survivors’ reflections on the Community Advocacy Project, an empirically supported intervention for women with abusive partners. The study examined the service delivery processes that survivors affirmed or identified as core components of the intervention. Qualitative analysis of interviews with 51 survivors indicated that 3 main service delivery elements contributed to positive outcomes: orientation to the whole person, unconditional validation and acceptance, and an orientation to information provision and action. These overarching themes are described and implications for domestic violence services and dissemination are discussed.

Adams A, Bybee D, Kubiak SP, Kennedy AC, Sullivan CM, Campbell R. A model of sexually and physically victimized women's process of attaining effective formal help over time: the role of social location, context, and intervention. American Journal of Community Psychology . 2012;50 (1-2) :217-28. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22290627

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

As empirical evidence has demonstrated the pervasiveness of sexual assault and intimate partner violence in the lives of women, and the links to poor mental health outcomes, attention has turned to examining how women seek and access formal help. We present a conceptual model that addresses prior limitations and makes three key contributions: It foregrounds the influence of social location and multiple contextual factors; emphasizes the importance of the attainment of effective formal help that meets women's needs and leads to positive mental health outcomes; and highlights the role of interventions in facilitating help attainment. We conclude with research and practice implications.

2009
Beeble ML, Bybee D, Sullivan C, Adams AE. Main, mediating, and moderating effects of social support on the well-being of survivors of intimate partner violence across 2 years. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 2009;77 (4) :718-729. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19634964

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

Intimate partner violence is a serious and pervasive social problem with deleterious consequences for survivors' well-being. The current study involved interviewing 160 survivors 6 times over 2 years to examine the role of social support in explaining or buffering these negative psychological consequences. The authors examined both between- and within-persons variability to explore women's trajectories regarding their experiences of abuse, social support, depression, and quality of life (QOL). Findings revealed the complex role of social support on women's well-being. Evidence was found for main, mediating, and moderating effects of social support on women's well-being. First, social support was positively related to QOL and negatively related to depression. Social support also partially explained the effect of baseline level and subsequent change in physical abuse on QOL and depression over time, partially mediated the effects of change in psychological abuse, and moderated the impact of abuse on QOL. The buffering effects of social support were strongest at lower levels of abuse. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed.

2003
Goodkind JR, Gillum TL, Bybee DI, Sullivan CM. The Impact of Family and Friends’ Reactions on the Well-Being of Women With Abusive Partners. Violence Against Women. 2003;9 (3) :347-373. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/9/3/347

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

This study examined the degree to which battered women talked with family and friends about abuse they were experiencing and how family and friends responded. Participants were 137 women who had recently experienced domestic violence and were exiting a shelter. Most women confided in family and friends about the abuse. Family and friends’ reactions depended on contextual factors, including the woman’s relationship with her assailant, number of separations, number of children, and whether family and friends were threatened. Family and friends’ negative reactions and offers of tangible support were significantly related to women’s well-being, although positive emotional support was not.

2002
Sullivan CM, Bybee DI, Allen NE. Findings From a Community-Based Program for Battered Women and Their Children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2002;17 (9) :915-936. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/17/9/915.short

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

The effectiveness of a strengths-and community-based support and advocacy intervention for battered women and their children was examined. The study included a longitudinal, experimental design and employed multimethod strategies to measure children's exposure to abuse and their self-competence over a period of 8 months. Maternal experience of abuse and maternal well-being were also assessed. The experimental intervention involved advocacy for mothers and their children and a 10-week support and education group for the children. Families in the experimental condition received the free services of a trained paraprofessional for 6 to 8 hours per week over 16 weeks. Eighty mothers and their 80 children participated in the study. Findings were modest but promising. Children in the experimental condition reported significantly higher self-competence in several domains compared to children in the control group. The intervention caused improvement in women's depression and self-esteem over time. Policy, practice and research implications are discussed.

1999
Sullivan CM, Bybee DI. Reducing violence using community-based advocacy for women with abusive partners. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1999;67 (1) :43-53. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10028208

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

An intensive community-based advocacy intervention was designed and evaluated by randomly assigning 278 battered women to an experimental or control condition. Participants were interviewed 6 times over a period of 2 years. Retention rate averaged 95% over the 2 years. The 10-week postshelter intervention involved providing trained advocates to work 1-on-1 with women, helping generate and access the community resources they needed to reduce their risk of future violence from their abusive partners. Women who worked with advocates experienced less violence over time, reported higher quality of life and social support, and had less difficulty obtaining community resources. More than twice as many women receiving advocacy services experienced no violence across the 2 years postintervention compared with women who did not receive such services.