Fear of Intimacy Among Abused Women
Mark H. Thelen, Michelle D. Sherman and Tiffany S. Borst conducted a study in 1998 “to determine if rape survivors have difficulties with attachment and fear of intimacy”. In the study, they used the FIS and other methods to compare rape survivors with other non-abused controls. When trait anxiety was ruled out, it was found that there was “no significant differences on fear of intimacy, confidence in others’ dependability, and comfort with closeness”.
The results of this study showed that “Confidence in others’ dependability and comfort with closeness were negatively correlated with the FIS whereas fear of abandonment was not correlated with the FIS. …The attachment dimensions and the FIS were significantly correlated in the predicted direction with trait anxiety”.
The results of this study showed that “the rape survivors differed from the controls in reporting higher fear of intimacy… that the experience of rape is related to women’s discomfort in close relationships”. It was also found that “hose who disclosed the rape did not differ significantly from those who did not disclose on fear of intimacy or the attachment measures, although the differences were in the predicted direction”.
Another study found that “abused women exhibited significantly higher levels of externalized self-sacrifice, silence, and disconnection intimate relationships when compared to nonabused women”. They also found that the challenge of trying to help these women “are magnified when working with battered women because of the betrayal of trust they have experienced within interpersonal relationships”.
Read more about this topic: Fear Of Intimacy
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