Economic Dependence and Readiness to Change Among Female Intimate Partner Violence Survivors: The Moderating Role of Social Support

Economic dependence is a well-documented barrier to leaving abusive relationships, yet little is known about whether social support can buffer this association. This study examined objective economic dependence, perceived post-separation economic constraints, and readiness to change among intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors and tested whether IPV-specific social support moderated the association involving perceived constraints. A sample of 356 female IPV survivors was recruited from service agencies in Beijing, China. Participants completed a formative index of objective economic dependence, an eight-item measure of perceived post-separation economic constraints, measures of general and IPV-specific social support, and a measure of readiness to change. In adjusted models, perceived economic constraints were negatively associated with readiness to change (β = -.17, p = .002), whereas the primary objective-dependence index showed a marginal association (β = -.10, p = .070). IPV-specific social support was positively associated with readiness to change (β = .19, p < .001), whereas general support was not significant (β = .05, p = .358). IPV-specific support moderated the association involving perceived constraints (B = 1.54, p < .001): the negative association was significant at low support (B = -3.23, p < .001) but nonsignificant at high support (B = -0.50, p = .381). These cross-sectional findings indicate that abuse-specific support may be particularly relevant when survivors anticipate substantial economic difficulty after separation.