Social Support, Quality of Life and Intimate Partner Violence as Perceived by Women: A comparative Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) primarily affects women, harming their quality of life. Strong social support reduces the likelihood and impact of IPV. The aim the study to investigate the relationship between social support, quality of life, and intimate partner violence as perceived by women. Subjects and methods: this study used a comparative cross-sectional design. Researchers gathered data by utilizing tools such as a self-administering interviewing questionnaire. Subject: A sample of 367 married women were chosen by simple random sample from the Maternal and Child Health Center at Benha City. The research results illustrate that over two-thirds of the participants in both the abused seeking help and abused not seeking help groups reported being significantly affected by violence. Alarmingly, 85.10% of women in the “abused, not seeking help” group indicated a low quality of life. Conversely, more than half of those who sought assistance reported having a significant other, alongside a robust network of family and friends for emotional support. In conclusion, these results underscore the critical interplay between abuse, social support, and life quality. The negative associations found between experiences of abuse and both life quality and social support highlight the profound detrimental effects of IPV on women’s well-being. Based on these findings, we recommend implementation of awareness-raising initiatives to educate communities about the transformative power of strong social support in enhancing the quality of life for women facing violence.