Factors that contribute or impede the physical health recovery of women exposed to intimate partner violence: a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Several cross-sectional studies have demonstrated the negative impact that intimate partner violence (IPV) has on the physical health of women. However, longitudinal studies are needed to establish the time course of this effect. This study assessed the physical health course of female IPV victims and established the factors that enhance or impede their recovery. METHODS: Women (n = 91) who participated in a previous cross-sectional study (T-1) and were either victims of physical/psychological IPV (n = 33) or psychological IPV (n = 23) were evaluated 3 years later (T-2). A control group of women (n = 35) was included for comparison. Structured interviews provided information regarding IPV characteristics, physical health, and lifestyle. FINDINGS: Physical symptoms decreased over time for both groups of abused women. Factors that contributed to this improvement were perception of social support and the cessation of physical IPV. Factors that impaired recovery included cohabitation with the aggressor, victimization experiences at T-2, negative perceptions of life events, and continuing psychological IPV. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that physical health improvement is possible in female victims of IPV, but that continuing psychological IPV hinders recovery. Additional longitudinal studies are needed to investigate the factors that best predict health recovery in female IPV victims to design effective intervention programs.

Recovery from depressive symptoms, state anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder in women exposed to physical and psychological, but not to psychological intimate partner violence alone: a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: It is well established that intimate male partner violence (IPV) has a high impact on women's mental health. It is necessary to further investigate this impact longitudinally to assess the factors that contribute to its recovery or deterioration. The objective of this study was to assess the course of depressive, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and suicidal behavior over a three-year follow-up in female victims of IPV. METHODS: Women (n = 91) who participated in our previous cross-sectional study, and who had been either physically/psychologically (n = 33) or psychologically abused (n = 23) by their male partners, were evaluated three years later. A nonabused control group of women (n = 35) was included for comparison. Information about mental health status and lifestyle variables was obtained through face-to-face structured interviews. RESULTS: Results of the follow-up study indicated that while women exposed to physical/psychological IPV recovered their mental health status with a significant decrease in depressive, anxiety and PTSD symptoms, no recovery occurred in women exposed to psychological IPV alone. The evolution of IPV was also different: while it continued across both time points in 65.21% of psychologically abused women, it continued in only 12.12% of physically/psychologically abused women while it was reduced to psychological IPV in 51.5%. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that cessation of physical IPV and perceived social support contributed to mental health recovery, while a high perception of lifetime events predicted the continuation of PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the pattern of mental health recovery depends on the type of IPV that the women had been exposed to. While those experiencing physical/psychological IPV have a higher likelihood of undergoing a cessation or reduction of IPV over time and, therefore, could recover, women exposed to psychological IPV alone have a high probability of continued exposure to the same type of IPV with a low possibility of recovery. Thus, women exposed to psychological IPV alone need more help to escape from IPV and to recuperate their mental health. Longitudinal studies are needed to improve knowledge of factors promoting or impeding health recovery to guide the formulation of policy at individual, social and criminal justice levels.

Recovery of immune control over herpes simplex virus type 1 in female victims of intimate partner violence.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the course of immune control over Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) through three salivary measures: neutralization of HSV-1, levels of specific antibody against HSV-1 (HSV-1-sIgA) and total immunoglobulin A (total sIgA), and to determine the factors that contribute to its recovery or deterioration. Several studies have demonstrated that intimate partner violence (IPV) affects immune responses in women, but none have investigated the impact longitudinally over time. METHODS: Women (n = 60), who participated in our previous cross-sectional study (T-1) and who had been either physically/psychologically (n = 22) or psychologically abused (n = 14) by their partners, were evaluated 3 years later (T-2). A control group of women (n = 24) was included for comparison. Saliva samples were collected twice a day (8 AM-9 AM, and 8 PM-9 PM) on 2 days spaced 2 weeks apart. Information about psychological and lifestyle variables was obtained by structured interviews. RESULTS: Physically/psychologically abused women had a significant improvement in both the capacity to neutralize HSV-1 and HSV-sIgA levels, and at T-2 the capacity of their saliva to inhibit virus was no longer different from the other two groups. Regression analysis indicated that the cessation of physical IPV was the main predictor of this recovery. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that recovery of immune control over HSV-1 is possible in women who had been exposed to physical/psychological IPV despite an initially low antiviral capacity. Other longitudinal studies are needed to determine which factors best predict the restoration of physical and emotional well-being in order to design more effective intervention programs.

Assessing physical, sexual, and psychological violence perpetrated by intimate male partners toward women: a Spanish cross-sectional study.

There have been many studies on the impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) on women's health, there being agreement on its detrimental effect. Research has focused mainly on the impact of physical violence on health, with few studies assessing the effect of sexual and psychological violence. Furthermore, there are many differences in the way violence experienced by women is assessed. While some researchers use available instruments, others develop their own questionnaires. This article gives detailed information about physical, sexual, and psychological violence, lifetime history of women's victimization, and aspects of women's behavior and feelings obtained with the questionnaire used in a Spanish cross-sectional study. Our results corroborate that IPV is not homogeneous, it being necessary to ask women about each type of violence they have experienced. Furthermore, to accurately assess the impact of IPV on women's health, it is necessary to control for other variables that also have detrimental effects on health.

Intimate male partner violence impairs immune control over herpes simplex virus type 1 in physically and psychologically abused women.

OBJECTIVE: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a worldwide problem and a cause of significant distress and threat to health. Studies have focused mainly on mental health, and few have considered the effect on physiological systems. The aim of this research was to determine whether IPV also compromises the immune system, as evidenced by a decrease in immune regulation over herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), the latent virus that causes cold sores. METHODS: Physically abused (N = 47) and psychologically abused women (N = 27) were compared with nonabused control women (N = 37). Information about sociodemographic characteristics, lifetime history of victimization, and mental health status (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder) was obtained through structured interviews. Salivary samples were collected on two occasions, and the capacity to neutralize live HSV-1 virus was tested with a bioassay. In addition, salivary levels of HSV-1-specific antibody and total IgA were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Physically abused women had the lowest virus neutralization, significantly below the other two groups, with the psychologically abused group intermediate. HSV-1-specific antibody also tended to be lower in physically abused women, but these values were not directly correlated with virus neutralization, suggesting that loss of other antiviral factors accounted for the reduced bioactivity. The effect of IPV on immune function was not mediated directly by mental health status. CONCLUSION: These findings confirm that the stressful disturbance associated with IPV has important physiological consequences, which could impair health by increasing the likelihood of viral reactivation and reducing the ability to suppress virus proliferation.