Downloaded from http://ebn.bmj.com/ on July 19, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Nursing issues Cross-sectional study
Physical and sexual intimate partner violence negatively affects women’s mental health and their children’s behaviour
anxiety, somatisation), chronic pain and their child’s behavioural problems (internalising, externalising). Pearson’s product–moment correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted.
Findings
10.1136/eb-2014-102026
Physical abuse was positively correlated (r=0.36) to sexual abuse, meaning that those women who reported more physical abuse also tend to report more sexual abuse. Sexual abuse was related to mother’s higher risk of lethality, somatisation, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and children’s internalising and total behavioural problems. Physical abuse was related to mother’s higher risk of lethality and anxiety.
Megan R Holmes
Commentary
Case Western Reserve University, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Cleveland, Ohio, USA Correspondence to: Dr Megan R Holmes, Case Western Reserve University, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, 11235 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, OH 44106-7164, USA; [email protected]
Commentary on: Symes L, Maddou, J, McFarlane J, et al. Physical and sexual intimate partner violence, women’s health and children’s behavioural functioning: entry analysis of a seven-year prospective study. J Clin Nurs 2014;23:19–20.
Implications for practice and research ▪ Screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) may help connect women to support services, which may in turn reduce the risk of death related to IPV. ▪ Research should continue to explore the effect of physical and sexual IPV on women and children’s health outcomes.
Context Seven million women each year experience physical, sexual or psychological abuse by an intimate partner and approximately 16% of children are exposed to IPV (also known as domestic violence) during their lifetime.1 2 Women who experience IPV report more mental health symptoms (eg, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress) and physical health conditions (eg, chronic pain). Children who have been exposed to IPV are more likely to experience internalising and externalising behavioural problems. The purpose of this study was to examine whether physical and sexual abuse were related to maternal mental health, risk of lethality, chronic pain and children’s behavioural functioning.
This study identifies important effects of intimate partner physical abuse and sexual abuse on mother’s mental health and corresponding children’s behavioural problems. Interestingly, the type of violence experienced by the mother influenced different domains of mental health functioning, with sexual abuse being related to increased somatisation and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and physical abuse being related to increased anxiety. Both types of abuse significantly predicted risk of lethality, which is important to consider when women present for healthcare. Screening for such abuse may connect women to support services, which may in turn reduce the risk of death related to IPV. This study also offers preliminary evidence that sexual abuse experienced by the mother may affect the child’s behavioural functioning, including internalising behavioural problems. These problems include somatic symptoms, being anxious/depressed and withdrawn behaviour. Although the researchers suggested child behavioural interventions based on maternal mental health modification, such conclusions are beyond the scope of their research. Moderation analyses are needed to support whether the effect of IPV on child behavioural functioning varies as a function of maternal mental health. Caution must be taken when considering the generalisability of this research. The sample included only those mothers who were residing in domestic violence shelters or receiving justice services. It is possible that these women had experienced more severe forms of violence that prompted utilisation of such services. More research is needed in this area. It is also important to consider the variation that is explained by each of the models. With the exception of risk of lethality, all other models accounted for less than 4% of the variability, meaning 96% or more of the differences in participant outcomes can be accounted for by other factors. Although some of the variation may have been explained by demographic variables, the researchers did not include such variables in the models. Competing interests None.
Methods Researchers used baseline data from a 7-year prospective study examining treatment efficacy of domestic violence shelters and justice services. Three hundred women were recruited from either the district attorney’s office or from domestic violence shelters. The age range of the women was 18–52 years old and they were primarily of ethnic minority background. Children’s ages ranged from 1.5 to 16.5 years. Women reported frequency of physical and sexual intimate partner abuse, danger for lethality, mental health functioning ( post-traumatic stress, depression,
94
References
Editor’s choice Scan to access more free content
1. Black MC, Basile KC, Breiding MJ, et al. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 summary report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011. 2. Finkelhor D, Turner H, Ormrod R, et al. Violence, abuse, and crime exposure in a national sample of children and youth. Pediatrics 2009;124:1411–23.
Evid Based Nurs July 2015 | volume 18 | number 3 |
Downloaded from http://ebn.bmj.com/ on July 19, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Physical and sexual intimate partner violence negatively affects women's mental health and their children's behaviour Megan R Holmes Evid Based Nurs 2015 18: 94 originally published online February 11, 2015
doi: 10.1136/eb-2014-102026 Updated information and services can be found at: http://ebn.bmj.com/content/18/3/94
These include:
References Email alerting service
Topic Collections
This article cites 2 articles, 1 of which you can access for free at: http://ebn.bmj.com/content/18/3/94#BIBL Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Articles on similar topics can be found in the following collections Child abuse (49) Editor's choice (86) Nursing issues (91) Child and adolescent psychiatry (165) Child and adolescent psychiatry (paedatrics) (165) Abuse (child, partner, elder) (26) Domestic violence (18) Violence against women (18) Anxiety disorders (including OCD and PTSD) (14) Pain (neurology) (312) Screening (public health) (186)
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
Nursing issues Cross-sectional study
Physical and sexual intimate partner violence negatively affects women’s mental health and their children’s behaviour
anxiety, somatisation), chronic pain and their child’s behavioural problems (internalising, externalising). Pearson’s product–moment correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted.
Findings
10.1136/eb-2014-102026
Physical abuse was positively correlated (r=0.36) to sexual abuse, meaning that those women who reported more physical abuse also tend to report more sexual abuse. Sexual abuse was related to mother’s higher risk of lethality, somatisation, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and children’s internalising and total behavioural problems. Physical abuse was related to mother’s higher risk of lethality and anxiety.
Megan R Holmes
Commentary
Case Western Reserve University, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Cleveland, Ohio, USA Correspondence to: Dr Megan R Holmes, Case Western Reserve University, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, 11235 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, OH 44106-7164, USA; [email protected]
Commentary on: Symes L, Maddou, J, McFarlane J, et al. Physical and sexual intimate partner violence, women’s health and children’s behavioural functioning: entry analysis of a seven-year prospective study. J Clin Nurs 2014;23:19–20.
Implications for practice and research ▪ Screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) may help connect women to support services, which may in turn reduce the risk of death related to IPV. ▪ Research should continue to explore the effect of physical and sexual IPV on women and children’s health outcomes.
Context Seven million women each year experience physical, sexual or psychological abuse by an intimate partner and approximately 16% of children are exposed to IPV (also known as domestic violence) during their lifetime.1 2 Women who experience IPV report more mental health symptoms (eg, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress) and physical health conditions (eg, chronic pain). Children who have been exposed to IPV are more likely to experience internalising and externalising behavioural problems. The purpose of this study was to examine whether physical and sexual abuse were related to maternal mental health, risk of lethality, chronic pain and children’s behavioural functioning.
This study identifies important effects of intimate partner physical abuse and sexual abuse on mother’s mental health and corresponding children’s behavioural problems. Interestingly, the type of violence experienced by the mother influenced different domains of mental health functioning, with sexual abuse being related to increased somatisation and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and physical abuse being related to increased anxiety. Both types of abuse significantly predicted risk of lethality, which is important to consider when women present for healthcare. Screening for such abuse may connect women to support services, which may in turn reduce the risk of death related to IPV. This study also offers preliminary evidence that sexual abuse experienced by the mother may affect the child’s behavioural functioning, including internalising behavioural problems. These problems include somatic symptoms, being anxious/depressed and withdrawn behaviour. Although the researchers suggested child behavioural interventions based on maternal mental health modification, such conclusions are beyond the scope of their research. Moderation analyses are needed to support whether the effect of IPV on child behavioural functioning varies as a function of maternal mental health. Caution must be taken when considering the generalisability of this research. The sample included only those mothers who were residing in domestic violence shelters or receiving justice services. It is possible that these women had experienced more severe forms of violence that prompted utilisation of such services. More research is needed in this area. It is also important to consider the variation that is explained by each of the models. With the exception of risk of lethality, all other models accounted for less than 4% of the variability, meaning 96% or more of the differences in participant outcomes can be accounted for by other factors. Although some of the variation may have been explained by demographic variables, the researchers did not include such variables in the models. Competing interests None.
Methods Researchers used baseline data from a 7-year prospective study examining treatment efficacy of domestic violence shelters and justice services. Three hundred women were recruited from either the district attorney’s office or from domestic violence shelters. The age range of the women was 18–52 years old and they were primarily of ethnic minority background. Children’s ages ranged from 1.5 to 16.5 years. Women reported frequency of physical and sexual intimate partner abuse, danger for lethality, mental health functioning ( post-traumatic stress, depression,
94
References
Editor’s choice Scan to access more free content
1. Black MC, Basile KC, Breiding MJ, et al. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 summary report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011. 2. Finkelhor D, Turner H, Ormrod R, et al. Violence, abuse, and crime exposure in a national sample of children and youth. Pediatrics 2009;124:1411–23.
Evid Based Nurs July 2015 | volume 18 | number 3 |
Downloaded from http://ebn.bmj.com/ on July 19, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Physical and sexual intimate partner violence negatively affects women's mental health and their children's behaviour Megan R Holmes Evid Based Nurs 2015 18: 94 originally published online February 11, 2015
doi: 10.1136/eb-2014-102026 Updated information and services can be found at: http://ebn.bmj.com/content/18/3/94
These include:
References Email alerting service
Topic Collections
This article cites 2 articles, 1 of which you can access for free at: http://ebn.bmj.com/content/18/3/94#BIBL Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Articles on similar topics can be found in the following collections Child abuse (49) Editor's choice (86) Nursing issues (91) Child and adolescent psychiatry (165) Child and adolescent psychiatry (paedatrics) (165) Abuse (child, partner, elder) (26) Domestic violence (18) Violence against women (18) Anxiety disorders (including OCD and PTSD) (14) Pain (neurology) (312) Screening (public health) (186)
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
