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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Feb 27.
Published in final edited form as: J Aggress Maltreat Trauma. 2022 Feb 27;31(5):660–676. doi: 10.1080/10926771.2022.2038751

Intimate Partner Violence, Existential Well-Being, and Africultural Coping in African American Women

Joya N Hampton-Anderson 1, Natalie N Watson-Singleton 2, Yara Mekawi 3, Sarah E Dunn 1, Nadine J Kaslow 1
PMCID: PMC9282718  NIHMSID: NIHMS1780337  PMID: 35846383

Intimate partner violence (IPV), which occurs when an intimate partner attempts to dominate or control their partner using physical and/or psychological means, is a global epidemic (Breiding et al., 2015). Worldwide IPV has a devastating impact on individuals, families, and communities (Al’Uqdah et al., 2016). At the individual level, women who experience IPV are at greater risk for occupational and educational impairment due to missed days from work as a result of abuse (King et al., 2017), which can lead to financial strain for the family and, in turn, heighten the family’s risk for abusive encounters (Copp et al., 2016). These individual and family effects can undermine community resilience, or the capacity for community members to band together to positively build safe, healthy, and stable neighborhoods (Mancini et al., 2006), thus IPV has far-reaching implications across various levels of society.

While IPV impacts all demographic groups, African American women have historically been disproportionately impacted (Gillum, 2019; Mills et al., 2018). The overall rates of physical IPV victimization for all women is 31.5%; 41.2% of African American women report physical IPV during their lifetime (DuMonthier et al., 2017). Further, African American women are at greater risk for severe forms of IPV such as IPV-related homicide than non-Hispanic White women (Azziz-Baumgartner et al., 2011). Severe forms of physical IPV are most evident among African American women living in urban areas (Bhandari et al., 2015) and those with low annual incomes residing in impoverished neighborhoods (Gillum, 2019; West, 2012). However, these disparities in IPV rates and consequences appear to reflect socioeconomic inequities rather than racial/ethnic background. When socioeconomic status is controlled for, racial differences in IPV rates virtually disappear (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000).

IPV has been associated with multiple challenges for African American women including experiencing more injuries, sexually transmitted infections, emergency department and hospital visits than their non-abused peers (Gillum, 2019). These women endorse more post-traumatic stress symptoms, anxiety, depression, substance misuse, eating issues, and suicidal behavior (Gillum, 2019; Mills et al., 2018; Pill et al., 2017; Watson-Singleton et al., 2019). IPV often erodes abused women’s self-esteem and sense of security (Matheson et al., 2015), and as a result, women perceive their lives as unstable and themselves as lacking the requisite skills to bolster their safety and efficacy. These consequences hold for women who experience nonphysical as well as physical forms of IPV (Estefan et al., 2016; Matheson et al., 2015). However, some studies suggest that nonphysical forms of IPV like psychological abuse lead to more distress and worse mental health symptoms than other types of IPV (Mechanic et al., 2008).

Many women are resilient even after experiencing traumas like IPV (Howell et al., 2018). They often can reclaim their control and experience newfound positivity (Crann & Barata, 2016). They find meaning in their lives as reflected in existential well-being (Zhang et al., 2015), which has been operationalized to denote a sense of purpose and self-efficacy (Koenig, 2001; MacDonald, 2000). Spiritual well-being, which includes existential well-being, mitigates IPV’s impact on mental health (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, suicidal behavior) and psychosocial (parenting stress) outcomes in low-income African American women (Fischer et al., 2016; Mitchell et al., 2006). Among African American women with past suicide attempts, existential well-being protects against posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSDs), hopelessness, and suicidal ideation (Fischer et al., 2016; Florez et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2015).

The extent to which existential well-being persists despite IPV may be facilitated by psychological resiliency factors (Luthar et al., 2000; Rutter, 1987) such as coping (Rizo et al., 2017). Emotional, active, or cognitive coping has been linked to positive outcomes in abused African American women whereas avoidant coping has been associated with more mental health difficulties (Mills et al., 2018). Among African American women, culturally-congruent coping may be a salient protective factor given that cultural factors can mitigate against deleterious trauma-related health outcomes in this population (Gillum et al., 2006; Wright et al., 2010).

A Framework for Culture-Specific Coping Practices

A framework that encompasses culture-specific coping practices is Africultural coping (Utsey et al., 2000) which reflects traditional West African norms, values, and customs relevant to all persons of African descent (Montgomery et al., 1990; Parham, 2002). West African values that undergird these coping practices are spirituality (connection with metaphysical and spiritual realms), collectivism (goals shared by family and ethnic group members), and communalism (appreciation of relationships and each person’s unique contributions) (Asante, 1992; Cokley, 2005). Greater reliance on Africultural coping strategies has been associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in nonclinical and clinical samples (Morrison & Hopkins, 2019; Watson-Singleton et al., 2020). However, this is the first study to examine if Africultural coping is a potential mechanism for resilience, in the form of existential well-being, in the context of IPV victimization among African American women.

Study Purpose

This study explores the relation between IPV, existential well-being, and Africultural coping strategies in African American women exposed to IPV. We predicted that: 1) IPV would be inversely related to existential well-being, 2) IPV would be positively related to Africultural coping, 3) Africultural coping would be positively related to existential well-being, and 4) Africultural coping would mediate the IPV – existential well-being link. The results that emerged may inform culturally responsive trauma-sensitive interventions that aim to bolster African American women’s resilience and sense of purpose during times of traumatic stress.

Methods

Procedure

This study was approved by the Emory University Institutional Review Board (MODCR001-IRB00045774). All participants provided written informed consent prior to the initiation of the data collection process. We used baseline data from a hospital-based culturally informed empowerment-based group intervention for African American women who have experienced intimate partner violence or had attempted suicide in the last year. Exclusion criteria included significant intellectual or cognitive impairment or active psychosis. Reading support was provided to all participants during the completion of the assessment battery.

Participants

The sample consisted of 213 self-identified African American women ages 18–59 (M = 36.79, SD = 11.87). The majority of women reported three or more suicide attempts (63.5%) and were homeless (52.4%), unemployed (87.6%), and had no health insurance (61.9%) (Table 1).

Table 1.

Demographic Characteristics for Participants (N=213).

Characteristics Participant Percentages
Age 36.79 (11.22)
# of Suicide Attempts
 None 2.7%
 1–2 33.9%
 3 or more 63.5%
Relationship Status
 Single/Never Married 45.8%
 Partnered/Not Cohabitating 11.8%
 Partnered/Cohabitating 16.7%
 Married 4.9%
 Divorced 9.4%
 Separated 8.4%
 Widowed 3.0%
Homeless
 Yes 52.4%
 No 47.6%
Unemployed
 Yes 87.6%
 No 12.4%
Health Insurance
 None 61.0%
 Medicaid/Medicare 33.3%
 Private 5.7%
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Note. Homeless, participant was asked “do you consider yourself homeless?;” Unemployed, participant was asked “are you considered unemployed?”

Measures

Demographics

The 26-item Demographic Data Form (DDF) gathers information about participants’ socioeconomic status indicators (e.g., education, income, homelessness status), relationship status, and psychiatric history. The measure was designed for this project and has been used in other studies published by our team. Data from this measure appear in Table 1.

Index of Spousal Abuse (ISA) (Hudson & McIntosh, 1981)

Both physical and nonphysical IPV from an adult intimate partner in the prior year were examined via the 30-item ISA. A sample of the 11-item physical IPV item subscale includes “My partner threatens me with a weapon.” A sample of the 19-item nonphysical IPV subscale includes “My partner belittles me.” Participants responded to all items on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (very frequently); higher scores reflect more severe IPV. The ISA is a valid and reliable screening tool for IPV among African Americans (Campbell et al., 1994; Watson-Singleton et al., 2019). In this sample, the internal consistency was excellent (physical IPV: α = .91; non-physical IPV: α = .90).

Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) (Ellison, 1983)

The SWBS has two subscales, spiritual and existential well-being. Since this study focuses on existential well-being, we only used the 10-item existential well-being (EWB) subscale, which assesses the extent to which people believe their life has meaning and their level of satisfaction with their life. Sample items include: “I believe there is some real purpose for my life” and “I feel very fulfilled and satisfied with life.” None of these items refer to specific deities or religious concepts. The subscale uses a six-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree); higher scores indicate greater existential well-being. Reliability estimates for the EWB subscale are between .84 - .90 in African Americans (Lamis et al., 2014; Utsey et al., 2005; Zhang et al., 2013), with alpha = .83 for the current study. The scale has good criterion related validity in African Americans (Fischer et al., 2016; Lamis et al., 2014).

Africultural Coping Systems Inventory (ACSI) (Utsey et al., 2000)

This 30-item measure examined culture-specific coping strategies along four dimensions: (a) Spiritual-Centered Coping (e.g., “Prayed that things would work themselves out”), (b) Ritual-Centered Coping (e.g., “Lit a candle for strength or guidance in dealing with the problem”), (c) Collective Coping (e.g., “Asked for suggestions on how to deal with the situation during a meeting of your organization or club”), and Cognitive and Emotional Debriefing (e.g. “Hoped that things would get better with time”). Participants described a stressful situation from the prior week and the coping strategies they used on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (did not use) to 3 (used a great deal). The subscales were summed for analysis. The ACSI has good internal consistency reliability and criterion-related validity (Morrison & Hopkins, 2019; Utsey et al., 2004), including among clinical samples of African American women (Watson-Singleton et al., 2020). In this sample, the internal consistency for the total score (α = .91) and subscales were as follows: Spiritual-Centered Coping (α = .82), Ritual-Centered Coping (α = .70), Collective Coping (α = .80), Cognitive and Emotional Debriefing (α = .76).

Data Analysis

We used correlational analyses to assess relations among study variables. Data screening showed normality, linearity, and homoscedasticity. Mediation analyses to test the direct and indirect effects of each of the proposed models using bootstrapping techniques (5,000 bootstrapped samples) were performed in the PROCESS macro for SPSS (Model 4) (Hayes, 2018) and findings were deemed significant when p < .05 (2-tailed). We interpreted unstandardized coefficients based on Ordinary Least Squares regressions, where c′ is the direct effect of X (physical or non-physical violence) on Y (existential well-being), a is the relation between X and the mediator (M) variable (subscale of Africultural Coping Scale), b is the relation between M and Y, and ab is the indirect effect of X and Y through M (Hayes, 2018). To understand the direct and indirect effects of each independent variable (physical IPV, nonphysical IPV) on the dependent variable (existential well-being), the mediation model was tested five times—once for each mediator (Africultural coping subscales, total score). Age, education, employment status, income, and homelessness status were controlled for as per previous studies with a similar population (Fischer et al., 2016).

Results

Table 2 presents means, standard deviations, reliability estimates, and correlations.

Table 2.

Correlation Coefficients for Key Study Variables

Variable M SD α 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. PHYS 42.43 29.98 .91
2. NPHYS 52.41 28.85 .90 .84**
3. RCC 2.45 2.65 .70 .18* .08
4. CED 17.48 6.21 .76 .10 .08 .47**
5. SCC 14.59 6.01 .82 .20** .07 .43** .62**
6. CC 12.08 5.51 .80 .05 −.01 .49** .66** .65**
7. EWB 36.42 10.3 .83 −.09 −.19* .19* .25** .40** .39**
8. TOT 46.54 17.12 .91 .15* .06 .64** .87** .86** .87** .39**
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*

Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

**

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

PHYS, physical violence; NPHYS, non-physical violence; RCC, ritual centered coping; CED, cognitive-emotional debriefing; SCC, spiritual-centered coping; CC, collective coping; EWB, existential wellbeing; TOT, africultural coping total score.

Hypothesis 1: IPV and Existential Well-Being

There was partial support for the first hypothesis, namely the correlation between IPV and existential well-being. There was an inverse correlation between nonphysical IPV and existential well-being (r = −.19, p = .01), but no association for physical IPV (r = −.09, p = .23).

Hypothesis 2: IPV and Africultural Coping

There was partial support for the second hypothesis. Physical IPV correlated with spiritual-centered (r = .20, p < .01) and ritual-centered (r = .18, p = .01) coping, but not the other dimensions (Collective Coping: r = .05, p = .41; Cognitive and Emotional Debriefing: r = .09, p = .17). Non-physical IPV was not correlated with overall Africultural coping (r = .06, p = .37) or any of its specific coping dimensions.

Hypothesis 3: Africultural Coping and Existential Well-Being

The third hypothesis was largely supported; the total score (r = .39, p = .01) and all subscales of Africultural coping correlated with existential well-being (Spiritual-Centered Coping: r = .40, p < .001; Ritual-Centered Coping: r = .19, p = .01; Collective Coping: r = .39, p < .001; Cognitive and Emotional Debriefing: r = .25, p = .01. Women who relied on each form of Africultural coping had greater levels of existential well-being.

Hypothesis 4: Mediation

Mediation analyses provided partial support for the fourth hypothesis that Africultural coping would mediate the IPV-existential well-being link. Specifically, such mediation only emerged when physical IPV was the independent variable and this was only the case for specific forms of Africultural coping. Although Africultural coping subscales predicted level of existential well-being in the presence of physical IPV (see Table 3), only ritual-centered coping (ab = .01, 95% CI: .008 to .039) and spiritual-centered coping (ab = .03, 95% CI: .009 to .056) emerged as independent mediators in the relation between physical IPV and existential well-being. Regarding model fit, the model explained 7% of the variance between the independent variables and existential well-being for ritual-centered coping. This effect was driven by ritual-centered coping’s relation with existential well-being, as evident by the lack of direct effect between physical IPV and existential well-being. For spiritual-centered coping, the model explained 20% of the variance between the independent variables and existential well-being; physical IPV was indirectly associated with existential wellbeing in part due to IPV’s effect on coping which, in turn, predicted higher existential well-being (Hayes, 2018). The non-physical IPV models revealed that non-physical IPV was not related to existential well-being through any subscale of Africultural coping independently (see Table 3). Thus, there was no indirect effect of non-physical IPV on existential well-being through any subscale of Africultural coping.

Table 3.

Non-Physical Violence Models: Indirect effect of nonphysical violence (X) on existential wellbeing (Y) through Africultural coping subscales (M)

Mediators R 2 F p A b c’ ab (Effect) 95%CI
Physical
 Cognitive Emotional
Debriefing .10 2.38 .02 0.03* 0.44** −0.03 0.01 −0.006, − 0.034
 Spiritual-Centered Coping .20 5.34 <.001 0.04** 0.71** −0.05* 0.03 0.009, −.056
 Collective Coping .19 5.18 <.001 0.02 0.74** −0.03 0.01 −0.007, − 0.043
 Ritual-Centered Coping .07 1.62 .13 0.02** 0.83** −0.02 0.01 0.008, − .039
 Africultual Coping Total .19 5.22 <.001 0.11* 0.24** −0.04* 0.02 0.004, − 0.057
Non-Physical
 Cognitive Emotional
Debriefing .13 3.14 <.01 0.03* .48** −.08** 0.018 −0.0004, − 0.044
 Spiritual-Centered Coping .22 5.81 <.001 0.01 .71** − .07** 0.01 −0.014, − 0.039
 Collective Coping .22 5.68 <.001 0.006 .74** − .06* 0.005 −0.020, − 0.033
 Ritual-Centered Coping .09 2.02 .05 0.01 .85** − .06* 0.009 −0.005, − 0.031
 Africultual Coping Total .22 5.94 <.001 0.07 .25** − .08** 0.01 −0.011, − 0.050
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*

Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

**

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Discussion

To date, research has focused primarily on intrapersonal and interpersonal variables associated with IPV (Chester & DeWall, 2018), with little attention paid to existing sociocultural realities. Thus, this investigation contributes to the critical yet nascent body of research by examining two culturally relevant constructs in the lives of high-risk, low-income, African American women with a history of IPV, namely Africultural coping and existential well-being. Overall the results support focusing on culturally normative, strengths-based coping and resilience for women who experience violence at the hands of their intimate partner. Many women with one type of IPV exposure had lower levels of existential well-being and some women with IPV exposure turned to spiritual-centered and ritual-centered coping. Women who relied on all four forms of Africultural coping experienced greater levels of meaning in their lives (i.e., existential well-being) than those who turned to fewer forms of such coping. Finally, IPV was indirectly associated with existential well-being through the effects of spiritual-centered and ritual-centered forms of Africultural coping.

The finding that women involved in highly abusive intimate partnerships endorsed low levels of existential well-being is consistent with data from studies with similar populations (Fischer et al., 2016). African American women abused by their partners are more vulnerable to becoming suicidal if they have low levels of existential well-being (Fischer et al., 2016). The unique aspect of our findings is that the direct association between IPV - existential well-being was only present for women who experienced non-physical IPV, but not physical IPV. Prior research has not examined the differential associations between these two types of IPV and existential well-being. However, our results build upon empirical work showing that nonphysical IPV is a more salient predictor than physical IPV of psychological outcomes (Norwood & Murphy, 2012). Future research needs to examine these two types of IPV separately and consider subtypes within both the nonphysical and physical IPV categories (Outlaw, 2009).

The results also indicated that compared to those with lower levels of physical IPV exposure, women with higher levels relied more heavily on two forms of Africultural coping: spiritual-centered and ritual-centered. This suggests that as physical IPV exposure intensifies, women who maintained existential well-being were more likely to cope by prioritizing their connection with spiritual elements and by emphasizing the use of rituals. Reliance on spiritual-centered coping is consistent with prior research showing that this culturally-salient coping strategy is often a first line approach for African American women in response to stress (Harris-Robinson, 2008; Lewis-Coles & Constantine, 2006), such as IPV and psychological difficulties (Sullivan et al., 2018). Interestingly, African Americans exposed to high levels of interpersonal discrimination rely most heavily on spiritual-centered and ritual-centered coping (Joseph & Kuo, 2009), suggesting that these forms of coping may be valuable in the context of interpersonal distress, whether familial or cultural in nature.

Consistent with what was anticipated, women who used all four types of Africultural coping reported greater levels of meaning in their lives (i.e., existential well-being). Prior studies have found that culture-specific coping is correlated with spiritual well-being, which includes existential well-being (Utsey et al., 2007). Earlier empirical investigations also have demonstrated that spiritual well-being partially mediates the link between various dimensions of Africultural coping and quality of life (Utsey et al., 2007).

The most notable finding was that two forms of Africultural coping, spiritual-centered and ritual-centered, mediated the link between one form of IPV (physical) and existential well-being link. In other words, African American women’s experiences with physical IPV were associated with maintaining meaning and purpose in their lives through engagement in these two forms of culturally relevant coping. These two forms of Africultural coping may reflect a culturally relevant manifestation of mindfulness practice given that the use of spirituality and rituals in African American culture aligns with mindfulness’ emphasis on stillness, gratitude, acceptance, and present-focused attention (Watson-Singleton et al., 2018). The mediational findings align with prior research with African Americans demonstrating that specific Africultural coping mechanisms buffer against psychological distress and enhance psychological well-being in the midst of intense stress (Lewis-Coles & Constantine, 2006). While this is the first study related to spiritual-centered coping specifically, prior research shows that among abused African American women spiritual well-being, which may be associated with spiritual-centered coping, mediates the link between IPV and psychological distress including depression (Mitchell et al., 2006). However, the ritual-focused coping findings differ from prior investigations in which this form of Africultural coping either has not been shown to explain the link between stress (e.g., gendered racism) and psychological outcomes (e.g., psychological distress) (Thomas et al., 2008) or has been found to increase African American women’s negative psychological outcomes (Greer, 2011). These mediational findings suggest that it may be advantageous for culturally-informed interventions with this population to encourage both ritual-centered and spiritual-centered coping strategies in the context of physical IPV as these two forms of coping appear to be readily turned to by African American women in physically abusive relationships. Thus, encouraging their use could be empowering and capitalize on their strengths.

It is unclear why only these two specific forms of coping fostered existential well-being in those experiencing physical IPV in the sample. This may reflect the fact that these two culturally salient coping strategies are solitary practices, which may be easier to engage in for women embedded in an abusive context and may provide women a sense of control in the midst of adversity such as IPV (Howell et al., 2018). In addition, many African Americans draw meaning from spirituality (Taylor & Chatters, 2010) and spiritualty helps African American women make meaning out of challenging life circumstances (Mattis, 2002). Rituals are in part an outward expression of spiritual practices that often serve to facilitate well-being (Utsey et al., 2000).

It also is unclear why the indirect effect through coping was only present when physical IPV was considered, especially given the direct association between nonphysical IPV and existential well-being. One plausible explanation is that physical and nonphysical IPV differentially impact adverse outcomes. Physical IPV, a more overt form of abuse, may elicit the need for more explicit coping strategies whereas nonphysical IPV, a more covert form of abuse, may delay the onset of distress related to abusive behaviors (Outlaw, 2009). A second possibility is that the two forms of IPV are related yet serve as different types of stressors for women. Other studies have shown differential impacts on Africultural coping based on the stressor encountered, even if the stressors are similar. For example, this has been the case with different forms of racism-related stress (Lewis-Coles & Constantine, 2006).

The results from this study need to be understood in the context of several limitations. First, although this study focused on an historically oppressed and marginalized group, the results may not be generalizable to women from other racial/ethnic or social class backgrounds. The findings also may have limited generalizability given the fact that the measures were not administered in accord with standard practice, as reading support was provided as needed. Second, the data were gathered via self-report measures, which are associated with potential response biases. Third, the cross-sectional study design precludes making causal interpretations about both the direct and indirect effects that emerged. Finally, given that African American women with a history of IPV tend to report higher rates of physical and nonphysical IPV to interviewers from the same race as themselves than to interviewers whose race differs from their own, the meaning of the findings would be enhanced if we had examined the impact of interviewer race and other demographics (e.g., gender) on the findings (Samples et al., 2014).

Study findings highlighting the critical role of Africultural coping in the well-being of trauma-exposed African American women suggest important directions for future research. In keeping with a strengths-based approach, investigations can incorporate pertinent positive outcomes in addition to existential well-being, such as resilience, optimism and hope, and/or flourishing. In addition, to advance our understanding of potential mechanisms to explain the association between IPV, both physical and nonphysical, and existential well-being, investigators are encouraged to examine other potential culturally relevant mediators and moderators in this population. For example social support, spirituality, and racial or ethnic identity have been shown to serve a protective role for abused African American women (Howell et al., 2018; Kaufman et al., 2020; Watson-Singleton et al., 2019). Future work may examine moderation models related to Africultural coping practices and other culturally salient variables such as racial identity, as well as compared avoidant forms of coping with Africultural coping strategies. Finally, it is essential to consider the systemic barriers that have a major impact on African American women (e.g., access to healthcare, housing, financial stability) (Beyer et al., 2015). Analyzing the impact of these systemic factors statistically could bolster policy recommendations to improve the lives of African American women and provide the necessary supports for women experiencing IPV.

Despite these study limitations, the findings that emerged have several potential implications for clinical practice. First, a thorough assessment should attend to women’s experiences of both physical and nonphysical IPV. Second, in addition to evaluating abused women’s presenting concerns, attention needs to be paid to ascertaining the extent to which they believe their life has meaning. With women who have a strong sense of purpose already, interventions can capitalize on this strength. However, for abused women who struggle to identify and be guided by a sense of purpose, meaning-making interventions (Slattery & Park, 2011; Wong, 2015) should be incorporated and designed to empower them to assume more control and acknowledge their progress and positive life changes (Crann & Barata, 2016). Third, the bolstering of culturally congruent coping strategies is key to interventions with abused African American women, particularly those with physical IPV exposure. The use of Africultural coping strategies may enable women to take action toward value-driven goals, access support from family and friends, and reflect about their success in attaining their goals (Cattaneo & Goodman, 2015). Such intervention targets can enhance the cultural relevance of these interventions.

In closing, IPV is challenging to address in the African American community given widespread concerns about sharing problems outside the home and turning to behavioral health professionals for help (El-Khoury et al., 2004). Our study suggests that among low-income African American women who have experienced abuse, coping strategies that provide familiarity and routine (i.e. ritual-centered) and are rooted in spirituality (i.e. spiritual-centered) may provide a structure for understanding stressful circumstances and aid in the development and/or maintenance of existential well-being (Fischer et al., 2016; Mills et al., 2018; Stevens-Watkins et al., 2014). Thus, services that are Afrocentric in nature (Finfgeld-Connett, 2015) and embedded within a comprehensive strengths-based model that bolsters individual, family, and community-level cultural strengths (Asay et al., 2016) may be helpful. Such culturally specific services that address the intersectional needs of African American women IPV survivors are in line with recent community-based participatory research endeavors that explore the needs and lived experiences of this community and their desire for social support and help that is attuned to their unique needs (Ragavan et al., 2020).

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

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Indirect effect of physical violence (X) on existential wellbeing (Y) through spiritual-centered and ritual-centered coping

Acknowledgments

None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to report. This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (1R01MH078002–01A2, Group interventions for abused, suicidal Black women) awarded to the last author (Kaslow).

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