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300622
Relationships among the consequences of intimate partner violence and mental health disparities experienced by American Indian populations
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
: 12:50 PM - 1:10 PM
American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women in the U.S. experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at epidemic rates in comparison with non-AI/AN women. This violence tends to be more serious than violence against non-AI/AN women, with AI/AN women being more likely to sustain injuries and require medical care for their victimization. National attention has been drawn to harmful mental health effects of IPV on AI/AN women include higher levels of mental distress and psychiatric disorders, such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, substance abuse and dependence along with many other disorders. Consequences of IPV parallel the mental health disparities such as, PTSD, suicide, depression, and substance abuse, disproportionately experienced by AI/AN populations. Available research generalizes the effects of IPV across races, and the consequences specific to AI/AN women are poorly understood. Because IPV affects such a large proportion of AI/AN women, concomitant effects on mental health disparities are likely substantial. This paper fills a critical gap in understanding about AI/AN women’s perceptions about the effects of IPV on women, parenting, future relationships, children, and families and the relationships of these consequences with mental health disparities. Using a critical ethnography, this paper marshalled data from 29 life history interviews of AI/AN women affected by violence to reveal their perceptions on the consequences of IPV for women, as well as their relationships, parenting, children, and families.
The connections among these consequences and mental health disparities, as well as interventions for IPV as an underlying cause of mental health disparities are discussed.
Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Analyze the relationships between the consequences of intimate partner violence on American Indian women, as well as their relationships, children, and families to the mental health disparities experienced by these populations.
Evaluate consequences of intimate partner violence for American Indian women, relationships, children, and families in lieu of existing mental health disparities experienced by these populations.
Demonstrate the applicability of preventing and treating intimate partner violence as an underlying cause of mental health disparities across multiple American Indian populations.
Keyword(s): Native Americans, Domestic Violence
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principle investigator of an externally funded, in-depth ethnographic study on intimate partner violence as experienced by American Indian women in the Southeast. My research interests include mental health equity and disparities, intimate partner violence, resilience, culturally specific risk and protective factors, and culturally sensitive research and practice with American Indian populations in the United States.
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.
