Intimate partner violence and depression in a population of pregnant African American residents of the District of Columbia: A risky combination

Intimate partner violence (IPV) directly impacts on mental health and is a significant contributor to psycho-behavioral outcomes.

The objective is to examine the relationship between victimization vs. perpetration of IPV on depression and to compare sexual vs. physical abuse as a mediator of depression in pregnant women.

1044 African American pregnant women in the District of Columbia were recruited if they reported IPV, depression, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke or smoking.

Among women acknowledging IPV, only 11% defined themselves as victims, 28% as perpetrators and 61% as both. Among victims, 12% were sexually abused, 55% physically and 33% both. Women acknowledging victimization or perpetration of IPV were more likely to be depressed vs. women with no IPV history (OR=2.7, 95% CI:2.1-3.4, p<0.001). Women who acknowledged both vs. victim only were more likely to be depressed (OR=2.0, 95% CI:1.1-3.7, p=0.022). Women acknowledging only sexual IPV were not significantly more likely to be depressed (p=0.126), and those reporting only physical IPV or both physical and sexual were significantly more likely to be depressed (p<0.001)

Pregnant women should be screened for IPV. In our study those reporting IPV were at a significantly increased risk for depression. Women were most likely to be depressed if they reported both sexual and physical IPV, or victimization and perpetration as compared to only one.

Screening only for victimization limits the ability of the health care system to reach out to a significant proportion of women implicated in IPV who may benefit from mental health interventions offered.