Emotional abuse of battered women can be as harmful as physical violence, a new study shows.

ANN ARBOR—The effects of psychological abuse on battered women can be just as harmful as the physical violence they endure, a new study confirms.

Researchers Leslie A. Sackett, assistant professor of social work at Columbia (S.C.) College, and Daniel G. Saunders, associate professor of social work at the University of Michigan, say that “psychic injuries” to battered women are typically caused as much by emotional abuse as physical abuse, and can help to sustain abusive relationships.

“We conducted our study because, if severe enough, psychological abuse may lead to self-doubt, confusion and depression,” Saunders says. “Battered women may subsequently have a difficult time seeing their options and marshaling the resources needed to leave the relationship.

“At first, a battered woman may respond to criticism and put-downs by trying to change herself, convince her partner they need couples’ counseling, or attribute his abuse to his drinking. Over time, many women realize that nothing they do seems to make a difference.”

In their study of 60 victims of domestic violence (half at women’s shelters and half in individual or group counseling), ridiculing of traits was found to be more severe than other types of psychological abuse, such as criticizing a woman’s behavior, ignoring her or jealously trying to control her.

“Ridiculing of a woman’s traits—an attack on her character—is more likely to shatter her sense of hope, security in the relationship, and even her sense of self,” Sackett says. “Other forms of psychological abuse, on the other hand, are somewhat less likely to be taken personally.”

According to Sackett and Saunders, ridicule is more likely than other kinds of verbal abuse to cause fear among battered women. While the amount of physical violence is the strongest predictor of depression and low self-esteem, both ridiculing and ignoring also are strongly related to these outcomes.

“The finding on the use of ignoring shows that it needs to be taken seriously as a form of abuse, with the potential for long-term consequences,” Saunders says. “Being ignored may give one of the most negative messages possible about self-worth because it conveys the message that ‘you don’t exist.'”

While the study shows that their partners’ jealous and controlling behavior was not likely to cause depression and low self-esteem among battered women, such emotional abuse had a higher correlation with physical violence than other kinds of psychological abuse.

In addition, although women living in a shelter were more likely to report severe physical abuse, greater ridicule and more jealous control by their husbands or boyfriends, they did not experience greater depression, lower self-esteem or more fear than the non-sheltered women.

“The shelter may have provided enough support in a short period of time for previous depression and fear to lift, although self-esteem is less likely to change in such a short time,” Sackett says. “Another possibility is that the more severe abuse experienced by these women caused traumatic symptoms that kept other emotional responses from surfacing.”

In all, the researchers say that their results confirm the negative impact of emotional abuse on battered women and that counselors must help victims to understand that “character assassinations” can be as damaging to a woman’s sense of self as outright physical violence.

The study will appear in an upcoming special issue of the journal Violence and Victims.

Phone: (313) 647-1847