Battered Body, Battered Self: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Embodiment-Related Impairments of Female Victims of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Intimate-partner violence (IPV) is a major threat to women’s lives, with an impact on their physical and mental health, often causing trauma symptoms. The IPV consequences for embodiment-related features that are detrimental to the quality of life and identity structure of victims are understudied. With this study, we aim to examine embodiment-related functions and physical and mental health of women with and without a history of IPV. A total of 47 female victims of IPV (mean age 41.3 ± 11.5 years) living in shelters and 44 non-victims (mean age 43.1 ± 12.5 years) living in the community participated in this cross-sectional study. We used a self-administered survey to assess the prevalence of mental health symptoms, somatic symptoms, and behaviors of self-injury and suicidal ideation. The levels of interoception, movement imagery, body ownership, and bodily dissociation were assessed through tasks and questionnaires, controlling for mental health covariates. Women victims of IPV showed a greater prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (p = .014), depression (p < .001), somatic symptoms (p = .006), self-injury behaviors (p < .001), and suicidal ideation (p < .001). Also, IPV victims showed higher levels of body disownership (p = .025) and bodily dissociation (p < .001) than non-victims, controlling for the presence of PTSD and depression. Our study shows strong evidence of the link between IPV and impairments in embodiment, namely the sense of body ownership and the disconnection from the body. Intimate-partner violence victims need embodiment-informed care to be parallel to the attention given to mental health and somatic symptoms.