The Relationship of Victimization Experiences to Psychological Well-Being Among Homeless Women and Low-Income Housed Women

Stressful experiences and their effects on the psychological well-being of 113 homeless women and 116 low-income housed women were investigated. Measures of victimization assessed multiple dimensions of this construct, including criminal victimization, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse. Measures o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of counseling psychology 1996-04, Vol.43 (2), p.218-227
Main Authors: Ingram, Kathleen M, Corning, Alexandra F, Schmidt, Lyle D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjustment (to Environment)
Adult
Adults
Biological and medical sciences
Comparison
Coping
Demographic Characteristics
Economically Disadvantaged
Environment
Factors
Family Background
Female
Females
Happiness
Homeless
Homeless People
Homeless women
Housing
Human
Human Females
Interpersonal Relationship
Low income groups
Low income women
Lower Income Level
Medical sciences
Mental Health
Poverty
Psychological Patterns
Psychological wellbeing
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Sexual Abuse
Sexual Harassment
Stress
Stress Management
Stress Variables
Victimization
Victimology
Well Being
Women
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Stressful experiences and their effects on the psychological well-being of 113 homeless women and 116 low-income housed women were investigated. Measures of victimization assessed multiple dimensions of this construct, including criminal victimization, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse. Measures of current daily environmental hassles and quality of family environment while growing up also were included. Additional measures assessed positive and negative interpersonal exchanges, sense of coherence, and overall psychological distress. Regression analyses indicated that victimization experiences were significant predictors of psychological well-being for both samples. Results also highlighted the importance of investigating both the positive and negative dimensions of interpersonal influences as well as internal resources, and suggested that these resources for coping with stress may be differentially perceived and utilized by these groups. These findings also suggest the need for specific preventive and remedial interventions to empower homeless and low-income housed women.
ISSN:0022-0167
1939-2168
DOI:10.1037/0022-0167.43.2.218