Spousal Emotional Abuse against Married Women in Jordan: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Background: Emotional abuse is one form of intimate partner violence (IPV). Many women have experienced emotional abuse by their partners; however, there is still a gap in knowledge in the literature about women’s experiences of spousal emotional abuse. Purpose: To assess the prevalence rates of spousal emotional abuse against married women in Jordan and examine if social support moderates the relationship between predictor variables – women’s sociodemographic variables, marital satisfaction, marital conflict- and emotional abuseAdditionally, to gain an in-depth understanding of women’s experiences of spousal emotional abuse. Methods: This is a mixed-methods design with a cluster sampling technique used to select comprehensive healthcare centers in Amman and Irbid. We recruited 200 married women in the quantitative arm and 30 women in the qualitative arm. Descriptive, bivariate, hierarchical logistic regression, general linear models, and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: Approximately half of the participants were exposed to any form of spousal emotional abuse. The bivariate results found that exposure to any form of spousal emotional abuse was significantly associated with couples who had high school or less, unemployed women, low household monthly income, marital satisfaction, marital conflict, and social support. The hierarchical logistic regression found that regardless of the type of spousal emotional abuse, household monthly income, marital satisfaction, marital conflict, and some kinds of social support are significantly associated with spousal emotional abuse. Some forms of social support significantly moderate women’s education level, household income, residency place, marital satisfaction, and marital conflict, with some forms of emotional abuse. The thematic analysis identified two major themes:1) risk factors of experiencing emotional abuse and 2) the consequences of emotional abuse. The risk factors include personal factors such as childhood upbringing, the husband’s mental health, and poor socioeconomic status, while relationship factors involve the differences between couples, and family and friends’ influence. The consequences of emotional abuse involve physical and mental health, marital relationships, and children's outcomes. Conclusion: Healthcare providers, policymakers, and stakeholders need to work together on setting protocols on how to detect victims of emotional abuse and IPV in general and decrease the health costs related to emotional abuse. Adopting proper policies and interventions is recommended to minimize the risk of women’s exposure to emotional abuse, diminish the consequences of emotional abuse, and enhance social support.