Self-esteem in the context of intimate partner violence: A concept analysis

Abstract

Aim: To explore the meaning of self-esteem in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV).

Background: IPV is a preventable public health issue. The dynamic of IPV diminishes women's self-esteem. Defining self-esteem will guide the development of IPV interventions in healthcare settings.

Design: Walker and Avant's eight-step approach was used.

Data source: The search was conducted from Oxford Dictionary of English online, CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, PubMed, Women's Studies International, and Google Scholar.

Review methods: No limits on the year of publication were applied.

Results: Defining attributes of self-esteem are self-concept, self-affirmation, and self-respect. Antecedents of self-esteem are exposure to IPV and victim-blaming attitudes by healthcare professionals. Consequences include depression, substance abuse, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Empirical referents include self-worth, self-competence, self-blame, self-evaluation, self-confidence, and self-determination.

Conclusions: Current literature is limited in its definition of self-esteem in the context of IPV. Women experiencing IPV with low self-esteem might not seek help for IPV from nurses. Nurses could develop culturally appropriate IPV screening tools that assess the changes in self-esteem among women from different sociodemographic and cultural backgrounds. The defining attributes could contribute to developing comprehensive IPV screening tools in healthcare settings.

Keywords: concept analysis; intimate partner violence; self-esteem; violence against women.