June 23, 2003
Is the cessation of abuse enough to resolve depression for victims of intimate partner violence?
Women who have been victims of intimate partner violence experience a decreased likelihood of depression after the violence ceases, according to a study by researchers at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center published in the latest issue of the Violence and Victims.
The researchers tracked 397 Seattle women who were victims of abuse by a male intimate partner that resulted in a police-reported incident or the filing of protection order between Oct. 15, 1997 and Dec. 31, 1998. Women agreeing to take part in the study answered questions on surveys measuring symptoms of depression at the beginning of their participation, then after three months, nine months and two years.
Data on the occurrence of physical, psychological and sexual abuse during the follow-up periods were also collected. Researchers categorized study participants according to the extent of subsequent abuse — from abuse continued in full to a complete cessation of abuse.
The decrease in symptoms of depression was most striking for women with a history of both physical or sexual abuse and psychological abuse against whom all forms of violence had ceased, according to Mary Kernic, Ph.D., a University of Washington (UW) assistant professor of epidemiology and the study’s principal investigator.
Complete cessation of abuse among this group of women was associated with a 35% decline in depression during the study’s follow-up period. Women with a similar history but for whom physical/sexual abuse ceased while psychological abuse continued experienced a 27 percent decline in depression.
“These findings not only convey the degree to which a cessation of abuse affects the risk of depression, but, importantly, offers evidence that increased risk of depression is a consequence of abuse rather a character trait of women likely to be victims of intimate partner violence,” Kernic explains.
Approximately 1.8 million women are victimized by a male intimate partner in the U.S. every year, according to the National Violence Against Women Survey. In addition to the most obvious physical consequences of this abuse, previous studies indicate that such violence puts women at a much higher risk of psychological problems, including depression. The current study tracked the largest sample of women with a history of abuse, and the two-year follow-up period is longer than that used in previous studies.
Co-investigators on Kernic’s study were Victoria Holt, Ph.D., M.P.H., a UW professor of epidemiology; Julie Stoner, Ph.D, a University of Nebraska assistant professor of biostatistics; Marsha Wolf, Ph.D., formerly of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center; and Fred Rivara, M.D., M.P.H., UW professor of pediatrics and adjunct professor of epidemiology.
