Post-Traumatic Growth and Depreciation Among Women Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence: The Predictive Role of Core Beliefs and Resilience

Traumatic experiences can lead to negative changes in an individual’s evaluations of themselves, others, and the world by disrupting their belief systems. The purpose of this study is to examine post-traumatic depreciation (PTD) and post-traumatic growth (PTG) in women exposed to physical violence by an intimate partner, as well as the psychological factors potentially associated with these variables. The research was conducted with 72 female participants aged 19 to 63 reached through purposeful sampling. Findings indicated that psychological resilience has a strong protective effect on PTD, whereas the disruption of core beliefs is a risk factor that significantly predicts PTD. Contrary to expectations, no significant relationship was found between the disruption of core beliefs or psychological resilience and PTG. This result suggests that in chronic and interpersonal traumas, the shattering of the belief system does not spontaneously lead to PTG; instead, it may contribute to PTD when the disruption remains unrepaired. These findings indicate that in clinical interventions for survivors of violence, targeting PTG alone may not be sufficient; interventions aimed at strengthening psychological resilience and repairing disrupted core beliefs play a critical role in preventing PTD.