https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/64392 2026-04-28T07:15:49Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145795 Title: Women's lived experience of enduring domestic violence and substance abuse Abstract: Background: Domestic violence and substance abuse are interconnected issues that have serious effects on women’s physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. These intersecting experiences often trap women in cycles of trauma, dependency, and marginalisation. Understanding how women experience and cope with these challenges is essential not only for developing effective, trauma-informed responses but also for providing appropriate support and intervention. Design: A qualitative phenomenological design was employed to explore the lived experiences of women exposed to both domestic violence and substance abuse, conducted in accordance with the principles and framework of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Setting: Semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews were conducted with participants in rehabilitation settings. Four interviews took place within the rehabilitation centre during participants’ treatment programmes, while one interview was conducted outside the centre with a participant in the reintegration phase. Participants: Five adult female participants who have been exposed to domestic violence and substance abuse at any point in their lives. Method: Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants. Interview data were transcribed verbatim and analysed following the principles of IPA. Results: Seven Group Experiential Themes (GETs) emerged from the analysis, each with corresponding subthemes. The first GET, Substance Use, captures the journey from curiosity to dependency and the use of substances as a coping mechanism. The second, Domestic Violence and Abuse, reveals ongoing cycles of control and the emotional and interpersonal violence experienced. The third, Emotions, reflects the trauma, psychological impact, and resilience demonstrated by participants. The fourth, Relationships, explores patterns of broken connections, power, and manipulation. The fifth, Family and Social Support, highlights fractured family bonds and system failures in providing adequate support. The sixth GET, Experiences with Support Services, and lastly Sharing Advice and Future Aspirations, illustrates barriers to seeking help, perceptions of available services, and participants’ reflections on growth, recovery, and advice for others. Conclusion: The study highlights the complex interplay between domestic violence and substance abuse in shaping women’s lived experiences. Participants’ narratives reveal cycles of trauma, resilience, and recovery, underscoring the need for integrated, trauma-informed approaches that address both issues simultaneously. Enhanced awareness, coordinated services, and empathetic support are essential to promote healing and empowerment among affected women. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.) 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/32085 Title: Development and initial validation of a cue encounters and a cue salience questionnaire in an alcohol dependent population Abstract: Research on alcohol dependence has yielded considerable evidence that cues associated with drinking play a role in the maintenance of alcohol-seeking behaviour, even after long periods of abstinence. Classical conditioning models of addiction support the view that addiction develops and persists because different alcohol-related cues become salient to the individual and elicit conditioned responses even if the person has stopped drinking. The objective of the current research was to develop two 'naturalistic' cue exposure self-report questionnaires that measure how salient different cues are to an individual (Cue Salience Questionnaire - CSQ) and the frequency with which these cues are encountered (Cue Encounters Questionnaire - CEQ). The validity of the CSQ and CEQ was assessed amongst a UK and Maltese sample of alcoholics. In both samples, scores on the CSQ and CEQ correlated positively with a person's abstinence levels and Alcohol Urge Questionnaire (AUQ), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores. Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SADQ) scores only correlated with CSQ and CEQ scores in the UK sample, which was a more severely dependent sample than the Malta one. Exploratory principal component analysis indicated that although incorporating multiple domains, both cue salience and cue encounters are best described by a single factor. From a classical conditioning perspective, this finding would seem to imply that after years of pervasive drinking, an individual's associations with alcohol-related cues become generalized to a wider range of situations, thereby increasing the salience and the likelihood of more frequent encounters with conditioned cues, even after the person has stopped drinking. Based on these analyses, 25-item versions of both the CSQ and CEQ were developed and proposed for further investigation as shorter and more clinically practical versions. The study also examined prospectively whether CSQ and CEQ baseline scores and other influential variables would predict the probability of drinking during a 12-month follow-up period. The results of a multinomial logistic regression analysis provided an initial indication that individuals who did not drink during the 12-month follow-up period had lower baseline CSQ and CEQ scores and lower BDI and AUQ scores. The strongest predictor for drinking outcome was baseline abstinence levels. In effect, those with longer periods of abstinence at baseline, scored lower on the BDI, AUQ, CSQ and CEQ. The question of whether these scores really do decline with increased abstinence or whether different abstinent levels and stages of recovery amongst the sample confounded the results, was not determined in the current study and warrants further investigation. Future research implications and replicability of findings are discussed. Keywords: alcohol dependence, cue exposure, naturalistic, cue salience, cue encounters, drink, follow-up. Description: PH.D. 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z