Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy can have a multitude of effects on both mother and child. Specifically, physical abuse instills a heavy emotional, psychological, and spiritual toll on the mother. There is not enough research dedicated to exploring physical abuse in pregnant women in the Appalachian area. The purpose of this project is to investigate the relationship between physical abuse and two aspects of religiosity: forgiveness and values. Our hypothesis for this sample is that pregnant women who experience physical abuse will score differently on measures of forgiveness and values than those who have not experienced physical abuse. A survey, which contained the Hurt, Insulted, Threatened with Harm and Screamed (HITS) Domestic Violence Screening tool, and the Brief Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS) was administered to a sample of 444 women in their third trimester of pregnancy. An independent samples t-test was conducted to assess differences in measures of religious values and forgiveness between women who did and did not experience physical abuse. Results showed no significant difference in values (t(435) = 1.624, n.s.) or forgiveness (t(439) = 0.381, n.s.) across the two groups of women. Limitations for this project include the lack of generalizability due to the specificity of the sample. The Appalachian pregnant women who participated in this study may not necessarily reflect the average Appalachian woman, due to recruitment methods. Another limitation in this study is that the measures were self-report, and given the delicacy of the topic (physical abuse) participants may not have been willing to report accurately. The results suggest that religious values and forgiveness do not differ between Appalachian pregnant women who have and have not experienced physical abuse. However, other areas of religiosity should be investigated to determine whether differences are present.
Keywords: physical abuse, religion, pregnant
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:asrf-1321 |
| Date | 12 April 2019 |
| Creators | Brady, Emily, Henderson, Haley, Hoots, Valerie, Barnet, Joseph, Clements, Andrea |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Appalachian Student Research Forum |
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