Comparing Levels of Domestic Abuse and Emotional Regulation of NormalWomen andWomen Exposed to Violence

Background: In recent decades, violent behavior towards women has been considered as the most serious social problem beyondcultural, social, and regional boundaries. This type of violence includes any violent sexual action which causes physical, sexual, ormental damage in women, leading to obligatory deprivation from individual or social freedom.Objectives: The present study was aimed to examine levels of domestic abuse and emotional regulation in normal women andwomen exposed to violence.Methods: This study is causal-comparativeandof anafter-event type. The statistical population of the present study consisted of twogroups of women: exposed-to-violence women with background in conflict intervention and social emergency centers; and normalwomen in the second half of 2015. Statistical sample included 200 individuals (100 exposed-to-violence women and 100 normalwomen), who were selected using Convenience Sampling method; and they were examined and compared using questionnaires ofdomestic abuse and emotional regulation. All analytical actions were done using SPSS-ver20.Results: Data analysis showed that there is a significant difference between exposed-to-violence women and normal women interms of domestic abuse dimensions (emotional adjustment components) (P > 0.0001). The results of the multivariate analysis ofvariance showed that there is a significant difference between the two groups of women in terms of the three subscales of domesticabuse questionnaire (emotional, physical, andsexual misbehavior); andcomparison of meanvaluesshowedthat the degree of thesedimensions in exposed-to-violence women is high.Conclusions: Results showed that exposed-to-violence women experience more physical, sexual, and emotional domestic abuse.This can also be related to their differences in terms of emotional adjustment, which must be cared about by experts in order to givebetter service to these women and prevent social damage.

Keywords:

Domestic Abuse , Emotional Adjustment , Exposed-to-ViolenceWomen