Battered women in Orthodox communities in Israel: Social support, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and coping styles

The purpose of this study was to assess the association between family and social support, posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, and coping styles among ultra-Orthodox Jewish battered women (BW) who chose to flee to a shelter. In all, 88 women took part in the study. Positive correlations were found between appealing to friends, shelter staff, professionals, or neighbors for help in stressful situations and the use of problem-focused coping. Positive correlations were also found between appealing to professionals for help in stressful situations and PTS symptoms and routine functioning difficulties. In addition, a positive correlation was found between PTS symptoms and emotion-focused coping. The findings indicate the resemblance between BW in Jewish ultra-Orthodox society and BW in Western society in general.