--- LOSS & TRAUMA Journal of Loss and Trauma International Perspectives on Stress & Coping ROUTLEDGE Routled Taylor & Francis -- ISSN: 1532-5024 (Print) 1532-5032 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/upil20 Domestic Violence, Social Support, Coping and Depressive Symptomatology among South Asian Women in Hong Kong Kareen N. Tonsing, Jenny C. Tonsing & Terri Orbuch To cite this article: Kareen N. Tonsing, Jenny C. Tonsing & Terri Orbuch (2020): Domestic Violence, Social Support, Coping and Depressive Symptomatology among South Asian Women in Hong Kong, Journal of Loss and Trauma, DOI: 10.1080/15325024.2020.1738056 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2020.1738056 Published online: 10 Mar 2020. Submit your article to this journal View related articles C View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=upil20
JOURNAL OF LOSS AND TRAUMA https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2020.1738056 Routledge Taylor & Francis Group ROUTLEDGE Check for updates Domestic Violence, Social Support, Coping and Depressive Symptomatology among South Asian Women in Hong Kong Kareen N. Tonsinga (D, Jenny C. Tonsing", and Terri Orbucha ªDepartment of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work & Criminal Justice, Oakland University, Rochester Hills, MI, USA; Department of Social Work, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA ABSTRACT This study examines the links between domestic violence, cop- ing strategies, perceived social support, and mental health outcomes among a cross-section of 131 South Asian women in Hong Kong. Our findings show that domestic violence, mal- adaptive coping, and perceived lack of social support were significantly linked to greater depressive symptomatology, accounting for 35% of the total variance in depressive symp- tomatology. Results also indicate that for domestic violence survivors, frequent use of maladaptive coping was related to the presence of more depressive symptomatology. Strategies to reduce the burden of women's mental health distress should include early determination and prevention of domes- tic abuse and stressors, increased social support, and efforts to promote alternative behaviors and skills in coping with stress- ful life situations. Introduction KEYWORDS Domestic violence; ethnic minority women; coping strategies; social support; mental health Domestic violence within an intimate relationship is a growing national and international public health concern. The lifetime prevalence of domes- tic violence against women in intimate relationships varies globally from 15 to 17 percent (Garcia-Moreno et al., 2006). In Hong Kong, recent studies estimate that the lifetime prevalence of experiencing at least one incident of domestic violence against women in intimate relationships is 19.9% (Bouhours & Broadhurst, 2015). Over the past few decades, a growing body of research has reported the negative impact of domestic violence on women's mental health (Bonomi et al., 2009; Devries et al., 2013; Ferrari et al., 2016; Han et al., 2010; La Flair et al., 2012; Ziaei et al., 2016). Bonomi et al. (2009) study among a random sample of 3568 from a large US health plan reported that women experiencing abuse were three times CONTACT Kareen N. Tonsingk kareentonsing@oakland.edu Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work & Criminal Justice, Oakland University, Rochester Hills, MI 48309, USA. ß 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
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