Experiences of intimate partner violence and valued living among women veterans: The role of self‐efficacy

Predominantly cross‐sectional research suggests that self‐efficacy may play an important role in women's psychological health after experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). However, few studies have examined these associations over time or with respect to broader aspects of psychological well‐being. Valued living, which reflects behavioral engagement within personally important life domains, represents a key aspect of well‐being that may be negatively impacted by experiences of IPV. Participants were 190 women veterans who completed three web‐based surveys. We examined whether IPV experiences at Time 1 were associated with valued living at Time 3 (i.e., 4 years after Time 1) through self‐efficacy at Time 2 (i.e., 3 years after Time 1). We separately examined overall, psychological, physical, and sexual IPV and investigated lifetime and recent (i.e., past 6 months) IPV experiences for each subtype. Separate path analysis models indicated that lifetime overall, β = ‐.10, 95% CI [‐.19, ‐.02]; psychological, β = ‐.08, 95% CI [‐.17, ‐.001]; physical, β = ‐.10, 95% CI [‐.18, ‐.01]; and sexual, β = ‐.11, 95% CI [‐.22, ‐.01], IPV experiences were indirectly associated with less valued living through less self‐efficacy, whereas the indirect effect only emerged for recent physical IPV, β = ‐.26, 95% CI [‐.50, ‐.02], but not for recent overall, psychological, or sexual IPV. These findings suggest that experiencing IPV is associated with less self‐efficacy and valued living, which highlights the importance of providing early psychosocial interventions to enhance well‐being among individuals managing the effects of experiencing IPV.