Mulheres em situação de violência doméstica : traços de personalidade e agravos psíquico

Abstract

This dissertation aimed to investigate personality factors assessed by the Factorial Personality Inventory (IFP-II) in women experiencing domestic violence and their associations with levels f anxiety and depressive symptoms. This quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational study was conducted with 31 adult women recruited from a Psychology teaching clinic and a shelter located in a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, between November 2025 and May 2026. A sociodemographic and violence characterization questionnaire, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and the IFP-II were administered. Psychological violence was reported by 93.5% of the participants, property violence by 87.1%, and physical violence by 83.9%. In 74.2% of cases, the violence had persisted for more than five years, with the intimate partner or husband identified as the main perpetrator in 83.9% of cases. The means of the 13 IFP-II factors were within the normative range of the general population. Autonomy presented the highest relative mean; however, individual classification analyses showed that most participants were in the high range for this factor and in the low ranges for Deference, Dominance, and Achievement. Among the factors assessed, Aggression, Persistence, and Change showed statistically significant associations with the symptoms investigated. Aggression was positively associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms, whereas Persistence and Change were negatively associated with depressive symptoms. These associations were considered exploratory due to the number of statistical tests performed and the absence of correction for multiple comparisons. In an exploratory regression model for depressive symptoms, Aggression and Change remained significantly associated with the outcome, whereas Persistence did not show an independent contribution. Exploratory associations were also observed between a greater number of types of violence and higher anxiety symptoms, as well as between dependence on the perpetrator and depressive symptoms. The cross-sectional design, small sample size, and selection of predictors based on the study data limit the generalizability of the findings and indicate that the results should be interpreted as exploratory, without establishing causal relationships. The findings supported the development of a support group protocol for women experiencing domestic violence, presented as the technical product of the Professional Master's Degree in Psychology. The protocol was organized around clinical and relational needs identified in the data and grounded in empirical findings and literature on interpersonal trauma and trauma-informed care. In addition to the protocol, other technical products were developed, including two manuscripts based on the research topic, a chapter for an e-book of the Professional Master's Degree in Psychology at the University of Caxias do Sul, scheduled for publication in December 2026, and an article accepted for submission and awaiting publication. A video presenting the main research findings was also produced and will be made available on YouTube and Instagram through the researcher's and her advisor's social media profiles. The video will also be shared with the participating women via WhatsApp. [resumo fornecido pelo autor]