Objective: The current study explored the prevalence rates of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse as well as the relationship between abuse and mental health within the Jewish Orthodox nonmarried community.
Method: To reduce response bias, abuse and mental health measures were added to a larger survey that was being conducted in the area of dating. Participants responded to an abuse question and completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item Scale (GAD-7), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS).
Results: Of the 274 respondents, 29.2% endorsed emotional abuse, 13.5% endorsed sexual abuse, and 9.2% endorsed physical abuse. Participants that endorsed overall abuse scored significantly higher on the depression and anxiety inventories and significantly lower on the life satisfaction inventory compared with those that did not endorse abuse.
Conclusion: This study is helpful in garnering communal and clinical awareness regarding abuse prevalence and mental health risks among this insular population where those abused are at times shunned. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).