Efficacy of an individual psychological treatment for battered women

• Main Authors: Mª Pilar Matud, Demelza Fortes, Lorena Medina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2014-12-01
• Series: Psychosocial Intervention
• Online Access: http://www.copmadrid.org/webcopm/publicaciones/social/in2014v23n3a5.pdf

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of an individual psychological treatment for batteredwomen. The sample comprises a total of 128 women battered by their partners, users of public services,aged between 18 and 67 years (M = 38.49, SD = 9.20), and with different marital status and educational andoccupational levels. Ninety-six of them participated in the protocol-centered intervention programassessed in the present study, whereas 32 were not involved and were considered as control group. Resultsshow a statistically significant reduction of posttraumatic, depressive, and anxiety symptoms as well as ofself-insecurity in women who received psychological intervention. In addition, whereas the latterexperienced an increase of self-esteem and self-confidence, women who did not participate in the programdid not observe such changes. Moreover, these changes remained constant in the follow-up. Theimprovement of women's mental health was also significant at the clinical level. We thus conclude thatthese findings prove the efficacy of this psychological intervention program.