229588 Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Health Status of Pregnant Women in Rural and Urban Nurse Home Visitation Program

Monday, November 8, 2010 : 9:20 AM - 9:35 AM

Ayanna Johnson, BA , Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Kennedy Kreiger Institute, Baltimore, MD
Linda Bullock, PhD, RN, FAAN , School of Nursing, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN , Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD
Karen Soeken, PhD , School of Nursing, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Phyllis Sharps, PhD, RN, FAAN , School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
     
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is prevalent during pregnancy, occurring in 3-19% of pregnancies. IPV during pregnancy is associated with serious health problems for both women and infants, including maternal depression. IPV consequences are further impacted by proximity to resources and social support. This study examines baseline mental health scores from the Domestic Violence Enhanced Home Visitation Program (DOVE; NIH/NINIR R01NR009093) for pregnant women experiencing IPV in rural and urban settings. A total of 159 women, mean age 24 years, are included in this analysis. Approximately 65.4% of the women come from rural Missouri and 34.6% from Baltimore. Depression determined by the Edinburgh Depression Scale, PTSD detected by the Davidson Trauma Scale, and self esteem/social support assessed by the Prenatal Psychosocial Profile were measured upon entrance into the program, along with three scales assessing the degree of abuse women experienced. Preliminary trends show that women in rural settings have lower depression scores (M=12.3, SD=5.81 v. M=14.2, SD=6.22), report receiving greater support and have lower scores on a PTSD assessment than their urban counterparts. Urban women have higher self esteem (p=0.035). Two- way Anova tests, controlling for race, showed that women in the urban setting had significantly higher scores on the Severity of Violence Against Women Scale (p<0.001) and for perceived stress. The findings of this study suggest that pregnant women residing in urban settings, regardless of ethnic/racial background, who have experienced IPV are more likely to have had experienced severe IPV and report higher levels of depressive symptoms.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
1. Identify mental health consequences of the urban setting on pregnant women who have experienced intimate partner violence. 2. Compare the differences between severity of abuse and perceived stress between pregnant women in rural and urban settings.

Keywords: Urban Women's Health Issues, Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I am a research assistant who works closely with the lead PI on this study and administers many of the assessments used in the project, and has experience working with women exposed to IPV.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3049.0: Optimizing Women's Mental and Physical Health: Opportunities and Barriers