Intimate partner violence (IPV) is known to cause
physical suffering and psychological problems, which burden
society. In addition, IPV-related psychological problems such as
depressive symptoms may lead to disabilities, chronic mental illness,
and an increased risk of suicide. This study was designed to explore the factors associated with depressive symptoms in women who were physically
abused by intimate partners.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study was conducted using questionnaires. A convenience sampling technique was used to recruit 72 female victims of intimate partner violence who voluntarily sought legal advice from the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Center (DVSAPC) of a city in southern Taiwan. The questionnaires that were used to collect data included the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Conflict Tactic Scale, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.
Results:
Seventy-two women were invited to participate, and 66 provided complete and valid data. Five refused to participate, and one dropped out. Sixty-six of the participants (91.67%) met the inclusion criteria and completed all questionnaires. Fifty-five (83.3%) of the participants were found to have depressive symptoms. Multiple linear regression examined the factors associated with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were positively associated in this sample with younger age, a lower level of extraversion, and a higher level of neuroticism. These three factors explained 59.5% of the total variance in depressive symptoms. Higher degrees of neuroticism, lower degrees of extraversion, and younger age were identified as predictors of more severe depressive symptoms.
Conclusion:
Youth and neuroticism were found to be significant risk factors for developing depressive symptoms in female victims of Intimate partner violence, whereas extraversion was found to be a related protective factor. The results of this study indicate that clinical workers should provide female victims of Intimate partner violence, especially relatively young victims, with services that help ameliorate neuroticism to reduce the risk of depressive symptoms.