Massey Documents by Type

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.Adult child abuse victims

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Ngā mea kōaro o ngā wā tamarikitanga, te taumahatanga o aua mea me ētahi mahi whakaora hinegaro mō ngā wāhine Māori = Adverse childhood experiences, HPA axis functioning and culturally enhanced mindfulness therapy among Māori women in Aotearoa New Zealand : a dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Ketu-McKenzie, Miriama Deborah
    Chronic health conditions such as obesity, type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression and anxiety are prevalent among Māori women in New Zealand, as are adverse experiences in childhood and chronic stress. Recent studies have shown a link between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and chronic health problems later in life. Many of those studies propose that dysregulation in the stress response system - specifically the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis - mediates that link. Cortisol is the primary corticosteroid released by the HPA axis and is commonly used as a biomarker for assessing HPA axis functioning. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a therapy that uses a range of breathing techniques, stretches, formal meditations and awareness exercises designed to help regulate the stress response by changing the way the brain manages and relates to stress. Due to its Eastern roots, MBSR therapy assumes an holistic view of health that mirrors some of the key concepts promoted in Te Ao Māori. This research tested the HPA axis functioning of eight adult Māori women who had experienced high ACEs, and explored associations between cortisol dysregulation, visceral obesity (a risk factor for many chronic health conditions) and psychological distress. This research also tested the clinical effectiveness and cultural responsiveness of an MBSR course that had been enhanced to suit a Māori audience. Participants provided pre, mid and post-treatment salivary cortisol samples that measured changes to their acute stress cortisol response, as well as changes to their daily cortisol slope, their cortisol awakening response and their overall cortisol levels. They also provided pre and post-treatment waist circumference measurements. Self-report data assessing depression and anxiety levels, PTSD levels, stress eating habits, perceived stress levels and mindful awareness levels, was collected, as was qualitative data in the form of pre and post-treatment interviews. The results indicated that culturally enhanced MBSR therapy was well received with this sample of Māori women and that the participants reported a wide range of benefits as a result of practicing mindfulness meditation.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The healing journey : survivors of ritual abuse : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Nursing at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1994) Leamy, Joanne
    This thesis offers a feminist analysis of how women heal from ritual abuse. Ritual abuse has only recently come to public attention, and is currently the focus of considerable debate. Nurses, who are often in the position of caring for women and children who have been ritually abused, have little knowledge of this abuse or how women heal. Feminist theoretical assumptions underpin the case study approach and the data analysis. In depth, unstructured interviews are the primary method of data collection, with some reference to field notes. The data from each participant is presented in separate chapters. The analysis of the data demonstrates that ways that each participant has developed in order to enhance her own healing. The analysis highlights the similarities and differences between the participants. It is suggested that nurses play a critical role in the care of survivors of any abuse, and that nurses have a particularly important role to play as advocates. This study also highlights the strengths that feminist research has to offer nursing research. This research provides valuable knowledge and a source of hope for the participants, myself, other survivors, health professionals, and particularly nurses.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Some mental and physical health outcomes associated with sexual abuse in childhood : a community survey of New Zealand women : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2002) Jury, Angela Faye
    This study examines the long-term impact of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) on mental and physical health functioning, as well as the potentially mediating effects of PTSD symptomatology in a community sample of 964 New Zealand women. In total 63% (n = 606) of women surveyed reported experiencing a traumatic event in their lifetime, of which 16 experienced CSA only and 114 experienced multiple types of traumatic events including CSA. Current mental health functioning was examined using measures of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptomatology and psychological distress. Measures of physical health symptoms, chronic health, and health care use were used to assess current physical health functioning. Significantly higher levels of PTSD symptomatology and psychological distress were found among women with histories of CSA in comparison to nontraumatised women. Elevated levels of physical health symptoms were also found in women who had experienced multiple types of traumatic events including CSA in comparison to nontraumatised women. Findings indicate that the main effects of traumatic experiences involving CSA on psychological distress and physical health symptoms were partially mediated by PTSD symptomatology. Among women with histories of CSA, hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate the impact of CSA characteristics and contextual factors on current mental and physical health functioning, over and above that explained by relevant demographic and background variables. Among the CSA variables, appraisals of CSA effecting many areas of a survivor's life were associated with higher levels of PTSD symptomatology. Higher levels of chronic health problems were associated with experiences involving physical injury and appraisals of CSA as uncontrollable were related to increased health care use. In conclusion, traumatic experiences involving CSA can negatively impact on the current mental and physical health functioning of women. However, a higher risk of adverse outcomes is associated with several CSA factors. These findings indicate the importance of ensuring the development and provision of services aimed at preventing and ameliorating the impact of exposure; the need to comprehensively assess survivors in both clinical and health care settings; and the utility of further research examining factors which may influence individual variability in adaptation, as well as subsequent trauma exposure.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Growing up with domestic violence : the voices of resilience : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Health Science in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) Henderson, Maree
    Domestic violence is not only a problem affecting many women nationally and internationally, it is a phenomenon being negotiated by thousands of children on a daily basis. The aim of this research was to bring voice to the experiences of adult children exposed to domestic violence as children; to privilege their experiences, insights, contradictions and resistances in their stories of resilience as they negotiate lives free from violence. Nine participants volunteered to participate in conversational interviews that were focussed on the effects of living with violence. Interviews were voice-recorded, transcribed and analysed using Riessman’s (1993) method of narrative inquiry. The analysis represents the participants’ stories of resilience, linking past experiences with particular storylines as they reflect on their meaning making in the present. Narratives of change were embedded in understandings of violence as intergenerationally transmitted and maintained through the conspiracy of silence. Through these stories of change, there were common storylines of safe relationships, being heard, changing actions and spaces to reflect from that were critical to positions of resilience. The presence of domestic violence produced tensions in mother and child relationships, and the loss of what a mother should be was profound. Embedded in stories that normalised violence, protected the secret, and ensured silence, were conflicting messages that the participants had to negotiate and overcome. The embodiment of trauma was embedded within the conspiracy of silence and produced relationships of gendered domination and subordination, and the effects were enduring. In a continuous movement between the past and the present, forgetting and remembering the pain and suffering, the participants positioned themselves through stories of victimisation and survival as they continue to encounter the enduring effects, as adults, through positions of resistance. These findings have implications for the necessity to privilege interventions for women and children in our attempts to reduce the effects of violence in our communities.