An exploratory study of the effects of abuse on the health of college women with mobility impairments

Violence against women (VAW) is a broad term used to capture aggressive acts committed toward women, which consists of numerous types of violence with the most commonly known types of abuse being emotional, sexual, and physical. One relatively invisible group, women with disabilities, not only experiences emotional, sexual, and physical abuse but also a unique type of disability-related abuse, which may increase their risk of experiencing acts of violence. This paper examined the health implications of abuse among college women with disabilities using a quantitative design involving three surveys: Abuse Assessment Screen-Disability (AAS-D), Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2), and Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey-36-item (MOS SF-36). This project recruited 205 participants, 112 were women participants, with a breakdown of 12 women with disabilities, 8 having mobility impairments, and 100 women without disabilities, to complete the quantitative survey packets. The purpose of this study was to address the effects of abuse on the health of women; therefore, only the data on women are being reported. There were no statistical significant differences between mental health and physical health statuses of women with disabilities and women without disabilities or between the mental health and physical health statuses of women with mobility impairments and women without disabilities. Women with disabilities who screened positive for abuse through the emotional abuse items of the CTS2 and the sexual abuse items of the CTS2 had statistically significant different mental health statuses compared to women with disabilities who did not screen positive for these types of abuse. The mental health and physical health statuses of women with disabilities were statistically significant different for those that disclosed physical abuse through the AAS-D physical abuse question and through the direct emotional abuse question (i.e., have you ever experienced emotional abuse?)