The role of resilience in the relationship between intimate partner violence severity and ICD-11 CPTSD severity

Background: Resilience is a modulating factor in the development of PTSD and CPTSD after exposure to traumatic events. However, the relationship between resilience and ICD-11 CPTSD is not adequately understood in survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV).

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine whether resilience has a mediating role in the relationship between severity of violence and severity of CPTSD symptoms.

Method: A sample of 202 women IPV survivors completed self-rated questionnaires to assess CPTSD, severity of violence and resilience.

Results: Mediation analyses indicated that there was a direct relationship between the severity of violence and the severity of CPTSD symptoms (β = .113, p < .001) and that there was a significantly inverse relationship between levels of resilience and the severity of CPTSD symptoms (β = −.248, p < .001). At the same time, there was no significant relationship between the severity of violence and resilience (β = −.061, p = .254).

Conclusions: These findings suggest that resilience does not mediate the relationship between violence severity and CPTSD severity. Directions for future research are discussed.

Highlights

• The severity of intimate partner violence (physical, sexual and/or psychological violence together or in isolation) could lead to symptoms of complex post-traumatic stress disorder in women survivors of IPV in the present sample.
• Lower levels of resilience are associated with higher levels of symptoms of complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Resilience does not mediate the relationship between violence severity and CPTSD severity.