Interpersonal violence and mental health outcomes following disaster

Declaration of interest: None.

Correspondence: Robyn Molyneaux. Email: [email protected]

Whether primarily natural or human-made, disasters pose a well-documented risk to mental health, with increased rates of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related conditions among those in affected areas.¹ Research has also thoroughly examined the pre-, peri- and post-disaster risk factors that contribute to the prevalence of mental health issues,^1,2 with a range of life stressors (both pre-existing and disaster-precipitated) linked to adverse outcomes.^1,3,4 One particular focus in existing literature is interpersonal violence following disasters (a broad term to cover all types of violence committed by one person against another).⁵ This is often classified at the subcategorical level, such as gender-based violence (violence against someone based on socially ascribed gender roles), community violence (violence between unrelated individuals, who may be known or unknown to each other) or family violence (violence largely between family members and intimate partners), an aspect of which is intimate partner violence (IPV; violence directed against an intimate partner or ex-partner).^5,6 There is growing empirical evidence of gender-specific patterns of vulnerability to violence following natural disasters.^7–9 Longitudinal research indicates that experiences of IPV before a disaster increase the likelihood of IPV following a disaster event,¹⁰ and this may be exacerbated by heightened stress post-disaster and damage to the physical and social infrastructures that provide domestic violence response and support.¹¹ Although previous research has found support both for^11,12 and against^10,13 post-disaster increases in IPV, certain peri-disaster experiences (such as property damage,^8,14 job loss¹⁵ and financial hardship¹⁶) have been linked to increased IPV risk. This is a significant mental health issue, as post-disaster IPV is associated with PTSD^8,14 and depression.^12,17 One gap within previous literature is that there has been little consideration of the pattern of interpersonal violence across communities variably affected by disaster. In the absence of pre-disaster data on incidence of violence, such comparative data on impact severity could indicate the extent of influence of the disaster experience, and identify those individuals and communities that may be at increased risk of certain post-disaster experiences and poorer mental health.

In February 2009, widespread bushfires in Victoria, Australia resulted in 173 fatalities and the damage or destruction of...