المساندة الاجتماعية و علاقتها بمستوى الإكتئاب النفسي لدى السيدات المعنفات في المحافظات الجنوبية-فلسطين

Abstract EN

The study aims to identify the level of social support and the level of psychological depression among abused women in the Gaza Governorates.

It also aims to find out the relationship between social support and psychological depression.

The study sample consists of 363 targeted abused women aged between 28 and 60 attending 15 centers belonging to the Directorate General of Mental Health.

The study is based on the descriptive approach and uses two scales: A social support scale (prepared by the two researchers) , and a depression scale by Beck (1984; Arabization by Gharib, 2000) .

The study results indicate that the level of social support is above average, while the level of depression is moderate, and that a negative correlation is found (inverse) between the total degree of social support and its sub - dimensions, with the total degree of psychological depression.

The study recommends the necessity of establishing psychological and counseling centers and units in each governorate that include psychologists, social workers, and specialists in dealing with abused women to help them develop social support and reduce their psychological depression.