Citation

Oh SS, Kim W, Jang SI, Park EC. J. Affect. Disord. 2019; 250: 79-84.

Affiliation

Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: ecpark@yuhs.ac.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jad.2019.02.065

PMID

30836283

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious social problem that is often hidden, unnoticed or ignored. However, few studies have explored the effects of partner violence onset and/or persistence on the mental health of individuals. Thus, we aimed to investigate the association between IPV onset and depressive symptoms in both married men and women.

METHODS: In this study, nationally representative data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study were employed to track 1040 men and 3732 women for a period of six years (2010-2015). Depressive symptoms were scored according to the 11-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-11).

RESULTS: Of our study population, 415 men (39.9%) and 866 women (23.2%) suffered from continuous intimate partner violence, meaning that they reported experience of IPV in both the previous and current year of investigation. Such subjects had significantly higher CES-D-11 scores (men β: 1.745, p ≤  0001; women β: 1.970, p  ≤  0001) as did subjects whose partners turned violent from non-violent (men β: 1.623, p  ≤  0001; women β: 1.594, p  ≤  0001) than those with continuously non-violent partners (reference group). Subjects whose partners turned non-violent from violent continued to be more depressed (men β: 0.312, p  ≤  009; women β: 0.880, p  ≤  000) than those with continuously non-violent partners. Through subgroup analysis, we also found that lower SES, as a covariate relative to educational attainment, household income, and economic status, was associated with worsened depression following IPV onset. Unemployed women with consistently violent partners (β: 2.957, p  ≤ .0001) and unemployed men with newly violent partners (β: 3.010, p  ≤ .0001) were more depressed than the employed or self-employed.

CONCLUSION: Our findings reveal that continuous IPV, as well as its onset, can have serious consequences for the mental health of its victims.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Depression; Domestic violence; Interpersonal violence; Intimate partner violence