Intimate Partner Violence Victims Seeking a Temporary Restraining Order: Social Support and Resilience Attenuating Psychological Distress

Social support has been found in many studies to be a protective factor for those exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV), but personal resilience has received far less attention. The present study concerns 136 female IPV victims seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) from a Family Justice Center (FJC). The relationships between IPV victimization, social support, resilience, and psychological distress were examined. Hierarchical regressions found that both perceived social support and self-reported resilience were inversely associated with distress symptoms. Higher social support was associated with lower trauma symptoms, controlling for abuse history, demographics, and resilience. Higher resilience was associated with lower mood symptoms and lower perceived stress, controlling for abuse history, demographics, and social support. No significant associations were recorded for anger symptoms. These findings suggest that fostering resilience can have important health benefits for IPV victims, above and beyond the well-known benefits of social support. Ways that resilience might be cultivated in this population and other implications for practice are discussed.