Drug misuse, self-esteem, and intimate partner violence among low-income African American women

Psychol Trauma. 2025 May;17(4):857-865. doi: 10.1037/tra0001798.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Little attention has been paid to the association between drug misuse and intimate partner violence (IPV) in low-income African American women or factors that protect African American women with drug misuse from IPV exposure. To fill these gaps, this study examined if the drug misuse-IPV exposure link was moderated by self-esteem in the target population.

METHOD: Participants (n = 204; Mage = 36.8 years, SDage = 11.1), low-income African American women with a recent suicide attempt and IPV exposure, were recruited from a large, public health care system and completed measures assessing drug use, self-esteem, and IPV.

RESULTS: Drug misuse correlated only with physical IPV (r = .16, p < .05). Self- and other-based self-esteem correlated with physical (r = -.25, p < .01 and r = -.34, p < .01, respectively) and nonphysical (r = -.33, p < .01 and r = -.41, p < .01, respectively) IPV. Moderation analyses revealed an interaction of drug use and other-based self-esteem on nonphysical IPV (B = -.26, SE = .06, p < .001); women with higher other-based self-esteem were more likely to be exposed to the negative effects of drug misuse on their reports of nonphysical IPV severity. There was no interaction of drug use and other-based self-esteem on physical IPV exposure or of self-based self-esteem on either type of IPV.

CONCLUSION: Interventions that enhance African American women’s perceptions of how they believe others view them may protect them against nonphysical IPV, but they also may require interventions to address drug misuse if present. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

PMID:40310218 | DOI:10.1037/tra0001798