Marital Abuse and Psychological Well-Being Among Women in the Southern Region of Jordan

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between marital abuse and psychological well-being among women in the southern region of Jordan. Design: A descriptive correlational design was used to collect data from a randomly selected sample of 915 women in the southern region of Jordan. Data collected were related to forms of marital abuse and six domains of psychological well-being. Results: The analysis showed that women have moderate to high level of psychological well-being. The prevalence of ever being abused during the past 12 months ranged from 3.2% (n = 25) for being threatened with a knife to 45.1% (n = 348) for their husbands being unconcerned about them while they were sick. There were significant differences in marital abuse related to having ever had school education (χ2 = 8.56, df = 2, p =.014). All forms of marital abuse were highly correlated (p <.01). Self-acceptance and environmental mastery domains of psychological well-being had negative and significant correlation with all forms of marital abuse (p <.01). Discussion and Conclusion: Health professionals in health care centers need to assess for marital abuse and its consequence on women's health. Interventions should emphasize promotion of psychological well-being and the factors that influence women empowerment. © 2011, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.