Contributions to Depressed Affect in Latina Women: Examining the Effectiveness of the Moms’ Empowerment Program:

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant social and public health problem that includes physical violence, sexual violence, threats of physical or sexual violence, stalking, and psychological aggression by an intimate partner. Estimates suggest that 35% of Latinas living in the United States experience IPV in their lifetime, with known severe negative outcomes. One mental health consequence of concern is depression, which disproportionately affects IPV-exposed Latinas. The present study tested the effectiveness of the Moms’ Empowerment Program (MEP), a culturally adapted intervention to reduce depressive symptoms among IPV-exposed Spanish-speaking Latina mothers. Additional psychosocial predictors of levels of depressed affect over time are examined, including levels of post-traumatic stress, IPV exposure, positive parenting, parental acceptance of children’s negative emotions, and maternal employment. Participants (N = 72) were assigned to a treatment or a wait-list comparison condition, and thos...