Women Facing Psychological Abuse: How Do They Respond to Maternal Identity Humiliation and Body Shaming?

Marina B. Martínez-González, Diana Carolina Pérez-Pedraza, Judys Alfaro-Álvarez, Claudia Reyes-Cervantes, María González-Malabet and Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez
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Marina B. Martínez-González: Department of Social Science, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla 080001, Colombia
Diana Carolina Pérez-Pedraza: Department of Social Science, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla 080001, Colombia
Judys Alfaro-Álvarez: Department of Social Science, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla 080001, Colombia
Claudia Reyes-Cervantes: Department of Social Science, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla 080001, Colombia
María González-Malabet: Department of Political Sciences and International Affairs, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla 080003, Colombia
Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez: Faculty of Sport Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: This research analyzes the decisions made by women facing simulated situations of psychological abuse. Seventy-three women (36.9 ± 13.6 years) who had been victims of domestic violence participated. The analysis was based on their coping strategies, early maladaptive schemes, and their decisions in response to vignettes describing the following domestic violence situations: humiliation to women’s maternal identity with children as witnesses and body shaming. We used Student’s t and Mann–Whitney tests to compare the results between groups. The participants presented some coping strategies (social support seeking, wishful thinking, and professional support seeking) and several early maladaptive schemes (emotional deprivation, defectiveness/shame, social isolation/alienation, failure to achieve, attachment, and subjugation) associated with their reactions facing a situation of humiliation with children as witnesses. When the humiliation was against the body image, their reactions were associated with some coping strategies (wishful thinking, professional support seeking, autonomy, negative auto-focus coping, and positive reappraisal) and one maladaptive scheme (defectiveness/shame). Women who reacted avoidantly showed higher social and professional support seeking but experienced higher indicators of discomfort and deterioration of self-esteem than those who opted for assertive decisions. The presence of children as witnesses seems to be a factor of stress in the configuration of coping strategies and maladaptive schemes in female victims of domestic violence. The evolution of early maladaptive schemes and coping strategies requires observation to avoid the risk of isolation and permanence in victimizing relationships.

Keywords: domestic violence; coping strategies; early maladaptive schemes; motherhood; body shaming (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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