The relationships between exposure to violence, social support, depression and psychological resilience in women: A comparative study

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between women is exposure to violence, social support, depression and psychological resilience. Methods: The study was carried out with two groups; the first, with 111 women who were exposed to violence in their lifetime and the second, with 119 women who did not experience violence atall. All participants were adults and literates, living in İstanbul. Data were collected using a Sociodemographic Data Form, the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), the Multidimensinal Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and the Beck Depression Scale (BDI). Results: The mean ages of the study and the control groups were as follows, 34,39±10,25 and 35,45±7,77, respectively, with no statistically significant difference. There were statistically significant differences between the study group and the control group in terms of marial status, occupation, working life, having a child and family support. The RSA scores were significantly lower in women who were exposed to violence. Likewise, the MSPSS scores were significantly lower in women who were exposed to violence compared to the control group. On the other hand, when who experienced violence had significantly higher BDI scores. Conclusion: In summary, our study draws attention to the violence psychological durability, social support and depression levels in women who were victims of violence. Our findings are discussed under the light of previous research. Key words: Violence, violence against women, social support, psychological durability, depression.