A confirmatory factor analysis to validate a theoretical model of economic solvency in women reporting intimate partner violence

Poverty is a consistent risk factor for intimate partner violence against women. Intimate partner violence has been shown to be a risk factor for future economic hardship. This creates a cycle of poverty and violence that is difficult for many women to escape. Little is known about the economic state at which women are no longer at risk for intimate partner violence due to their economic status, which can be referred to as economic solvency. A Theoretical Model of Economic Solvency in Women has been developed from the literature that includes four factors: human capital, social capital, sustainable employment, and independence. The purpose of this research is to validate the model in a sample of women reporting intimate partner violence. This research is a secondary data analysis of 280 women who reported intimate partner violence and sought services to end the violence and were followed for 7-years post first reach out for services. Measures used in the 7-year study of women were selected that theoretically matched the four factors described in the Theoretical Model of Economic Solvency in Women. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test the goodness-of-fit of the measures chosen for the model. Measures used to test the model included education, poverty ratio, and employment, as well as questions about empowerment, problem solving, self-efficacy, and economic hardship. Examination of the model yielded adequate fit with the obtained data, ?²(90) = 228.89; adj. ?² = 2.59; RMSEA = .076; NNFI = .900; CFI = .918; SRMR = .080. These results indicate that the model is valid for use with women reporting intimate partner violence to explain the interconnections of human capital, social capital, sustainable employment, and independence as abused women s economic solvency. The Theoretical Model of Economic Solvency in Women is a first attempt at understanding the complex interaction of factors that make up the economic status of women who have experienced intimate partner violence. The validation of the model offers strength of association between constructs and can be used to plan interventions to improve economic solvency in abused women potentially to reduce violence.