Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Association between physical partner violence, posttraumatic stress, childhood trauma, and suicide attempts in a community sample of women
Other Titles:	Violence and victims
Authors:	Stein, Murray B Forde, David R Seedet, Soraya
Keywords:	Drug and alcohol misuse;Health;Sexual assault;Mental health;Risk factors
Year:	2005
Publisher:	Springer Publishing
Citation:	20 (1), February 2005
Notes:	General Overview:This article reports on an American study in which women in Memphis were surveyed to identify connections between intimate partner violence (IPV) and childhood maltreatment, substance misuse, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal behaviour. IPV was defined as ‘a physical attack or beating by a spouse, boyfriend or live-in partner’. Objective: The purpose of the study was to estimate the prevalence of IPV and to explore its association with posttraumatic stress, childhood trauma, and suicide attempts, using a representative community sample of women. Methods:The study conducted phone interviews with 637 women in Memphis, Tennessee, who were questioned about their experience of childhood and adult victimisation. They were asked whether they had experienced any of the phenomena of interest. If participants had experienced IPV they were screened for posttraumatic stress disorder. Results: The study grouped the women surveyed into those who had experienced physical abuse in their intimate partner relationships (IPV+) and those who had not experienced this form of violence (IPV-). In the entire sample of 637 women, 165 had been attacked or beaten and of these, 78.9% had experienced 1 to 40 beatings. * 23% of women in the IPV+ group reported having made a suicide attempt, compared to 3% of women in the IPV- group * 10% of the IPV+ group were harmful drinkers, compared to 6% of women in the IPV- group. 17% of women in the IPV+ group reported using cocaine, compared to 3% of IPV- women. 9% of IPV+ women reported having used methamphetamines, compared to 0.3% of the IPV- group, and The study found that in this sample, abused women were more likely to have: Discussion: This study found a relatively low prevalence of IPV experienced by the sample group, compared with other studies. The authors suggest this is perhaps because they defined IPV only in terms of physical abuse. The number of women suffering PTDS in this study was lower than in other studies. However, the number of those suffering partial PTDS was significantly higher than those experiencing complete PTSD, as has been found in other similar studies. The study did not find a strong relationship between ethnicity and abuse or between ethnicity and PTDS, which is similar to findings in other studies. The study found that IPV was a risk factor for suicide attempts but PTSD was not. Conclusion: This study extended previous research on the mental health characteristics of women who experience IPV, showing that those women are more likely to have PTSD, drink heavily, attempt suicide and to have suffered childhood trauma. These are not all predictive factors. Only lower educational status and childhood abuse were shown to be independently predictive of experiencing IPV. This US article presents the findings of a study on trauma symptoms among infants exposed to intimate partner violence.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/13496
ISSN:	0886-6708
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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