Adaptation as a mediator of intimate abuse and traumatic stress in battered women.

The purpose of this research was to test one aspect of a proposed middle-range theory synthesized from the Roy adaptation model and linked with the framework of post-traumatic stress. A predictive-correlational design was used to examine adaptation as a mediator of traumatic stress in battered women. Analysis included regression and path analytic procedures. Results indicated (a) direct relationships between the focal stimuli of abuse and the response of post-traumatic stress disorder and (b) adaptation in the physiologic, self-concept, and interdependence modes partially mediated the relationship between the focal stimuli of abuse and the response of post-traumatic stress disorder in battered women.