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J Immigrant Minority Health (2008) 10:4551 DOI 10.1007/s10903-007-9049-7
ORIGINAL PAPER
Intimate Partner Violence: How Does it Impact Major Depressive Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among Immigrant Latinas?
K. Fedovskiy S. Higgins A. Paranjape
Published online: 15 May 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007
Abstract Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is prevalent in the general US population, as well as the Latino community. In a cross-sectional study at an immigrant, primary care clinic, we assessed the correlation between IPV history and symptoms of MDD and PTSD in Latino women. We used a structured interview format. Among the 105 women recruited, the 4-week incidence of MDD was45.7% and the prevalence of PTSD was 19%. Abused women had three times the odds of meeting PTSD criteria than non-abused women. Women meeting PTSD criteria were 10 times likelier to also report MDD. There was no difference in the incidence of MDD among women who reported IPV and those who did not. This study found a correlation of IPV with PTSD, and PTSD with MDD, but not IPV with MDD. Our results indicate a need for mental health interventions in primary care settings for Latina women regardless of IPV history.
Keywords Latino immigrants Women Intimate partner violence Depression and PTSD
Background
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern in the United States (US) with one in ve couples experiencing at least one episode of couple violence in the last year [1]. Emergency Department-based studies have estimated that the lifetime prevalence of IPV among women lies between 33 and 54% [2, 3] while at least one primary care study reports the lifetime IPV prevalence among women to be 51% [4]. The physical and mental health sequelae of IPV have been well-established in the literature [57]. Physical and emotional IPV are associated with worse self-reported health status [8, 9]; disability, chronic pain [8, 10]; and more sexual and reproductive health problems [8, 11]. Physical IPV has additionally been associated with an increase in the risk of injury [12] and death [13].
With respect to mental health, women with IPV histories experience higher rates of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) than women in the general US population [4, 6]. In a meta-analysis based on data primarily collected on women in shelters,...