Intimate partner violence and depression (Literature review)

Intimate partner violence is a global public health problem. Prevalence of Intimate partner violence differs geographically and financially. In countries like Peru, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh, it was reported to be 60%, while in Japan, it was 15 percent (Garcia-Moreno et al., 2006). In a financial context, it is high in low- middle-income countries (Kabir, Nasreen, & Edhborg, 2014). A review by Tessera Bites also found intimate partner violence associated with depression (Bitew, 2014). Rural communities were found to have more prevalence than urban communities. (Erulkar, 2013) . After analyzing data from 19 countries, researchers noted the high occurrence of Intimate partner violence during pregnancy (Devries et al., 2010). However, statistics in those countries is underestimated, as many of women do not report it because of fear from husbands and male-dominant societies. Conflicts and being refugees/immigrant also enhances chances of IPV (Hyder, Noor, & Tsui, 2007) .Women who witnessed conflict violence is more likely to experience IPV than women who didn’t witness conflict (Falb, McCormick, Hemenway, Anfinson, & Silverman, 2013). In India, employed women experienced IPV more than unemployed owing to male dominant society (Chakraborty, Patted, Gan, Islam, & Revankar, 2014).

Intimate partner violence is associated with a myriad of health problems. The effect of IPV on mental health is well documented. My brief review focuses on depression, one of the major mental health outcomes. Study indicate that the percentage of women who report having symptoms of depression varies according to their exposure to intimate partner violence(Meekers, Pallin, & Hutchinson, 2013).Women who were abused both in childhood and adulthood were four to seven times more likely to suffer from depression than never-abused women. (Ouellet-Morin et al., 2015). In a Chinese study, research categorized into IT and SCV, and found IT associated more with depression (Tiwari et al., 2015). There have been studies to report an association between physical abuse and depression, but a prospective cohort study found emotional abuse as one of the risk factors for postnatal depression. (Ludermir, Lewis, Valongueiro, de Araujo, & Araya, 2010). In this study of 1045 women, of which 270 women reported depression, psychological torture was found to be an important cause. According to Yoshihama et al., the role of psychological abuse is understudied(Yoshihama, Horrocks, & Kamano, 2009). Injuries stemming from psychological abuse took more time to heal than physical abuse(Matheson et al., 2015). One Chinese study reported high-level of depression in migrants’ victims of intimate partner violence. Langdon et al. studied mental health outcomes of 58 studies and found depression as the most common outcome. (Lagdon, Armour, & Stringer, 2014). Golding et al. estimated the prevalence of depression at 48% among women victim of IPV.

Ludermir study makes policy makers to focus on even psychological abuse. So while planning for interventions, psychological torture should be taken into account. Interventions targeted at young men have shown positive results in Ethiopia. (Pulerwitz et al., 2015). So education young men of women right values could be positive step.(continued)

Bitew, T. (2014). Prevalence and risk factors of depression in Ethiopia: a review. Ethiop J Health Sci, 24(2), 161-169.

Chakraborty, H., Patted, S., Gan, A., Islam, F., & Revankar, A. (2014). Determinants of Intimate Partner Violence Among HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Women in India. J Interpers Violence.

Devries, K. M., Kishor, S., Johnson, H., Stockl, H., Bacchus, L. J., Garcia-Moreno, C., & Watts, C. (2010). Intimate partner violence during pregnancy: analysis of prevalence data from 19 countries. Reprod Health Matters, 18(36), 158-170. Erulkar, A. (2013). Early marriage, marital relations and intimate partner violence in Ethiopia. Int Perspect Sex Reprod Health, 39(1), 6-13.

Falb, K. L., McCormick, M. C., Hemenway, D., Anfinson, K., & Silverman, J. G. (2013). Suicide ideation and victimization among refugee women along the Thai-Burma border. J Trauma Stress, 26(5), 631-635.

Garcia-Moreno, C., Jansen, H. A., Ellsberg, M., Heise, L., Watts, C. H., Health, W. H. O. M.-c. S. o. W. s., & Domestic Violence against Women Study, T. (2006). Prevalence of intimate partner violence: findings from the WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence. Lancet, 368(9543), 1260-1269.

Hyder, A. A., Noor, Z., & Tsui, E. (2007). Intimate partner violence among Afghan women living in refugee camps in Pakistan. Soc Sci Med, 64(7), 1536-1547. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.11.029

Kabir, Z. N., Nasreen, H. E., & Edhborg, M. (2014). Intimate partner violence and its association with maternal depressive symptoms 6-8 months after childbirth in rural Bangladesh. Glob Health Action, 7, 24725.

Lagdon, S., Armour, C., & Stringer, M. (2014). Adult experience of mental health outcomes as a result of intimate partner violence victimisation: a systematic review. Eur J Psychotraumatol, 5.

Ludermir, A. B., Lewis, G., Valongueiro, S. A., de Araujo, T. V., & Araya, R. (2010). Violence against women by their intimate partner during pregnancy and postnatal depression: a prospective cohort study. Lancet, 376(9744), 903-910.

Matheson, F. I., Daoud, N., Hamilton-Wright, S., Borenstein, H., Pedersen, C., & O’Campo, P. (2015). Where Did She Go? The Transformation of Self-esteem, Self-Identity, and Mental Well-Being among Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence. Womens Health Issues. Meekers, D., Pallin, S. C., & Hutchinson, P. (2013). Intimate partner violence and mental health in Bolivia. BMC Womens Health, 13, 28.

Ouellet-Morin, I., Fisher, H. L., York-Smith, M., Fincham-Campbell, S., Moffitt, T. E., & Arseneault, L. (2015). Intimate partner violence and new-onset depression: a longitudinal study of women’s childhood and adult histories of abuse. Depress Anxiety, 32(5), 316-324.

Pulerwitz, J., Hughes, L., Mehta, M., Kidanu, A., Verani, F., & Tewolde, S. (2015). Changing Gender Norms and Reducing Intimate Partner Violence: Results From a Quasi-Experimental Intervention Study With Young Men in Ethiopia. Am J Public Health, 105(1), 132-137.

Tiwari, A., Chan, K. L., Cheung, D. S., Fong, D. Y., Yan, E. C., & Tang, D. H. (2015). The differential effects of intimate terrorism and situational couple violence on mental health outcomes among abused Chinese women: a mixed-method study. BMC Public Health, 15, 314.

Yoshihama, M., Horrocks, J., & Kamano, S. (2009). The role of emotional abuse in intimate partner violence and health among women in Yokohama, Japan. Am J Public Health, 99(4), 647-653.