Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Depressive symptoms in women experiencing intimate partner violence
Other Titles:	Journal of interpersonal violence
Authors:	Kaslow, Nadine J Houry, Debra Thompson, Martie P
Keywords:	Mental health;Screening
Year:	2005
Publisher:	Sage Publications
Citation:	20 (11), November 2005
Notes:	This article presents a US cross-sectional examination of African American women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) and who presented to the medical or psychiatric emergency department (ED) for treatment. African American women with a recent history of IPV and with an attempted suicide (n=100) were compared to demographically comparable African American women with a history of IPV who had not attempted suicide but presented for treatment of another condition (n=100). Women participated in face-to-face interviews on a range of measures, including demographics and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). There were no demographic differences. African American women who are of low income and who have experienced IPV in the past year and attempted suicide had higher levels of depressive symptoms than ones who have not attempted suicide but have experienced IPV in the past year. The attempted suicides group reported statistically significant higher scores on all 21 BDI-II items. It found 4 BDI-II items had effect size values in the medium range: sadness, self-dislike, suicidal thoughts and feelings of worthlessness. These 4 symptoms predicted suicide attempt 78% of the time. It is suggested that these 4 items can be used as a brief screen in the emergency department to detect female patients for IPV at increased risk for suicidal behaviour, and further prospective validation of these symptoms as predictors of suicidality could help the development of a brief mental health screen for patients of IPV.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/14151
ISSN:	0886-2605
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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