Perceived Executive Functioning among Female Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

ABSTRACT

Current literature demonstrates that female survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) suffer cognitive impairment. Nonetheless, less is known about how women perceive their cognitive functioning and related factors. The main objective was to assess to what degree abuse severity and mental health are related to perceived cognitive functioning in women who have been exposed to IPV. A group of female IPV survivors (n = 82) were assessed with the Quality of Life Outcomes in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QOL-EF), Composite Abuse Scale Revised (CASR-SF), the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). Findings revealed self-reported impairment in concentration, information processing, and attention. Associations were found between self-reported executive function (EF) and posttraumatic stress, abuse severity, and depression. Further, a model including abuse severity and posttraumatic stress explained up to 20.8% of the variance in perceived EF. Findings indicate that female survivors report a high prevalence of difficulties in the domain of EF. Self-reported impairment in EF may be indicative of higher levels of posttraumatic stress (PTSD) and depression, meriting further assessment and possibly treatment. This study opens the way for the potential use of perceived cognitive functioning screening tools with female survivors.

KEYWORDS:

• Intimate Partner Violence
• mental Health
• assessment/Evaluation
• perceived Cognition
• Neuro-QOL-EF
• females
• adult Survivor
• trauma

Acknowledgments

We would like to give a special thanks to all of the women who participated in the study and to the professionals at the Women’s Associations (Centro de Información de la Mujer) in the town halls of Motril and Armilla, namely Pilar García Fajardo, Carmen Losada Reinoso, and María José Gálvez Jiménez. We would also like to show our deep appreciation to the researchers Carmen Fernández Fillol, Álvaro Lozano Ruiz, Raquel González González, Estefanía López Perabá, María Garnica, and Pablo García Muñoz for their unending and unconditional dedication to the project.

Disclosure of interest

The authors of the present manuscript have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the information discussed in this manuscript.

Ethical standards and informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation at the University of Granada (Spain) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by the I+D+I Operative Program FEDER grant of the Andalusian Government in 2018 (B-CTS-493-UGR18). Julia C. Daugherty was funded by a predoctoral fellowship of the Ministry of Education and Professional Training in Spain as well as the postdoctoral Puente contract at the University of Granada (Spain).