e, Date, 2012 State of the Science Congress on Nursing Research, Washington, DC

1. Vulnerabilities of Clients Seeking Services for Intimate Partner Violence: Does Hispanic Ethnicity and Birthplace Matter? 1Gonzalez-Guarda, R.M., 2Fernandez, M., 1Mitchell, E. & 1Lopez, J. 1School of Nursing and Health Studies, 2School of Education and Human Development, University of Miami e, Date, 2012 State of the Science Congress on Nursing Research, Washington, DC Center of Excellence for Health Disparities Research Research reported in this presentation was supported by the National Institute On Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P60MD002266. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

2. Background and Significance • Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), physical, sexual, psychological abuse and/or stalking by a current or previous partner, is significant public health problem • Racial and ethnic minority groups appear to be disproportionately affected by IPV • Little is known about differences among victims of IPV that can account for these differences, especially within Hispanic sub-groups (Bonomi et al., 2009; Caetano, Field, Ramisetty-Mikler & McGrath, 2005; CDC, 2011)

3. Intersecting Vulnerabilities: The Multicultural Power and Control Wheel (Chavis & Hill, 2009, pg. 128)

4. Purpose • Explore differences in individual, relationship and abuse vulnerabilities among White, Black and Hispanic victims seeking services for IPV • Explore variations in these characteristics among Hispanics from different countries of birth

5. Conceptual Framework • Individual • Characteristic • Age • Income • Health insurance Race/ Ethnicity of Victim White Black Hispanic Birthplace Cuba Nicaragua U.S. • Relationship • Characteristics • Marital status • Living with partner • Financial dependence • Abuse • Characteristics • Type of abuse • Abuse duration • Weapon used

6. Clients Seen 3/11 - 9/11 n = 539 Methods Victims of IPV n = 380 White, Black and Hispanic Victims of IPV n = 368 Design Secondary data analysis Cross-sectional Sample & Setting Family Justice Center in South Florida Measures Intake Form Procedures Data entry of paper doc into research database QA Analysis ANOVA Chi-square analysis Hispanic IPV Victims’ Birthplace n = 238 US (n=120) Cuba (n=53) Colombia (n=34) Nicaragua (n=31)

7. Results: Does Race/Ethnicity Matter? *p<.05, **p <.01, ***p<.001

8. Results: Does Race/Ethnicity Matter? *p<.05, **p <.01, ***p<.001

9. Results: Does Birthplace Matter? *p<.05, **p <.01, ***p<.001

10. Results: Does Race/Ethnicity Matter? *p<.05, **p <.01, ***p<.001

11. Summary of Findings • Overall, Black and Hispanic clients reported more vulnerable individual, relationship and abuse characteristics • White victims were more likely to report having a weapon used • Although more individual and relationship differences were found by birthplace, less variation existed in reported abuse • U.S. born Hispanics were younger and more likely to report health insurance and that a weapon was used during the abuse • Colombian-born victims were more likely to be married and financially dependent on the perpetrator

12. Limitations • Secondary data analysis • Quality of intake form completion • Limited measures • Cross-sectional • Complexities of race/ethnicity and vulnerability • Different groups sizes • Unable to include other groups (e.g., Haitians, Mexicans) • Generalizability • Only can tell us about IPV victims accessing services

13. Implications • Research • Longitudinal studies • Measures/assessments for victimization • Culturally tailored interventions • Practice • Group and individual patterns relating to vulnerability • Policy • Increase access to IPV social and health services (e.g., victim compensation, health insurance) • Role that gun policies play on weapon use norms in abusive intimate relationships

14. Thank You rosagonzalez@miami.edu