Effects of Intimate Partner Violence During COVID-19 and Pandemic-Related Stress on the Mental and Physical Health of Women Veterans.
J Gen Intern Med
; 37(Suppl 3): 724-733, 2022 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2014422
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Little is known about women veterans' intimate partner violence (IPV) experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic or the impacts of pandemic-related stress on their mental and physical health.OBJECTIVES:
To identify IPV experiences among women veterans prior to and during the pandemic, pandemic-related stressors, and examine their respective contributions to mental and physical health.DESIGN:
National sample of women veterans drawn from a larger web-based longitudinal study. Relationships between recent IPV and pandemic-related stressors were tested with linear regressions, controlling for pre-pandemic IPV and mental and physical health symptoms, demographic, and military-related covariates.PARTICIPANTS:
One hundred forty-two women veterans (Mage=58.8 years). MAINMEASURES:
We assessed IPV (CTS-2), PTSD (PCL-5), depression (CESD), anxiety (DASS-A), physical health (PHQ-15), and physical health-related quality of life (SF-12) prior to the pandemic (June 2016-December 2016/January 2017) and during the pandemic study period (March 2020-December 2020/January 2021). We assessed pandemic-related stressors (EPII) during the pandemic study period. KEYRESULTS:
Over a third (38.7%) of participants experienced IPV during the pandemic study period (psychological 35.9%, physical 9.9%, sexual 4.2%). Overall rates, frequency, and severity of IPV experience did not significantly differ between the pre-pandemic and pandemic study periods. Few participants tested positive for COVID-19 (4.2%); however, most participants reported experiencing pandemic-related stressors across life domains (e.g., social activities 88%, physical health 80.3%, emotional health 68.3%). IPV during the pandemic and pandemic-related stressors were both associated with greater PTSD and depressive symptoms. Pandemic-related stressors were associated with worse anxiety and physical health symptoms. Neither IPV during the pandemic nor pandemic-related stressors were associated with physical health-related quality of life.CONCLUSIONS:
IPV experiences during the pandemic were common among women veterans, as were pandemic-related stressors. Although IPV did not increase in the context of COVID-19, IPV experiences during the pandemic and pandemic-related stressors were linked with poorer mental and physical health.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Veterans
/
Intimate Partner Violence
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Gen Intern Med
Journal subject:
Internal Medicine
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S11606-022-07589-z
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