Table 2.
The frequency of experience of different forms of VA and emotional and behavioural reactions to VA.
| Forms of VA | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ignoring | 13 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 50.8 |
| Judging and criticising | 12 | 8 | 17 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 41.8 |
| Discounting | 19 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 38.9 |
| Blocking and diverting | 20 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 37.3 |
| Accusing and blaming | 19 | 7 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 34.1 |
| Abuse disguised as jokes | 28 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 27.0 |
| Condescending | 34 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 22.8 |
| Abusive anger | 30 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21.4 |
| Trivialising | 34 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 20.1 |
| Threatening | 41 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14.6 |
| Types of emotional reactions to VA | ||||||||
| Feeling overwhelmed | 9 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 51.1 |
| Anger | 15 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 41.3 |
| Frustration | 21 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 36.8 |
| Sadness/hurt | 23 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 33.3 |
| Confusion | 27 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 28.6 |
| Fear | 31 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 22.5 |
| Humiliation | 37 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 19.8 |
| Shame | 38 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 18.3 |
| Helplessness | 37 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17.5 |
| Intimidated | 37 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17.2 |
| Powerless | 38 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 17.2 |
| Defeated | 40 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15.3 |
| Threatened | 42 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13.2 |
| Types of behavioural reactions to VA | ||||||||
| I stop talking to the abusive person. | 8 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 57.9 |
| I walk away from the situation. | 9 | 11 | 5 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 52.1 |
| I seek others for assistance and support. | 18 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 41.0 |
| I get busy with positive activities such as reading, writing, listening to music, etc. to alleviate my distress. | 23 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 36.5 |
| I withdraw. | 22 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 34.1 |
| I clarify any misunderstanding the person may have. | 22 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 34.1 |
| I discuss the situation directly with the abusive person. | 24 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 29.9 |
| I engage in negative activities such as smoking, overeating, etc. to alleviate my distress. | 37 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 19.6 |
| I blame myself for the abuse. | 37 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 18.3 |
| 1: Never | 2: 1–6 times/year | 3: Once/month | 4: 2–3 times/month | 5: Once/week | 6: Several times/week | 7: Daily | ||
VA, verbal abuse.