Intimate partner violence and depression among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics

Abstract

Purpose

To examine the relationship between intimate partner violence and depression.

Methods

A household probability sample of Whites (n = 616), Blacks (n = 377), and Hispanics (n = 592) age 18 or older was interviewed in 1995. The response rate was 85%. Logistic analysis is used to identify predictors of depression.

Results

Among men, Black (OR = .29; 95% CI, 0.13–.65) and Hispanic (OR = 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2–0.8) ethnicity were protective against depression. Factors of risk for men included victimization by female to male partner violence (OR = 4.04; 95% CI, 1.15–14.11), unemployment (OR = 7.65; 95% CI, 1.59–16.39), and living in a high-unemployment neighborhood (OR = 4.6; 95% CI, 1.86–11.37). Among women, the predictors are perpetration of moderate (OR = 4.08; 95% CI, 1.33–12.47) or severe (OR = 6.57; 95% CI, 1.76–24.52) female to male partner violence, and impulsivity (OR = 1.82; 95% CI, 3.87–20.71).

Conclusions

Knowledge from surveys using general population samples is important for developing prevention interventions in the community. Because predictors of depression in these samples are both individual and contextual at neighborhood level, prevention interventions to be effective must address not only individual factors of risk but also structural conditions in the environment where individuals live.

Introduction

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health problem in the US. Recent reports based on the data being analyzed in this article showed that the rate of male-to-female partner violence (MFPV) and female-to-male partner violence (FMPV) among US couples was 13.6% and 21.4%, respectively (1). Higher rates of IPV have also been found among certain ethnic groups 2., 3.. Cross-ethnic analyses of the data in this article indicated that the rate of MFPV was 23% for Black, 17% for Hispanic, and 12% for White couples (4). Rates of FMPV were 30% for Black, 21% for Hispanic, and 16% for White couples (4). The differences between Blacks and Whites remained after controlling for socioeconomic factors.

Existing evidence indicates a strong and consistent association between psychological distress or depression and IPV. For instance, the prevalence of IPV among women diagnosed with depression is twice that of the general population (5), and physical abuse has been identified as one of the most important risk factors for suicide among women 6., 7.. Women reporting IPV are two to three times more likely to be depressed than women without history of victimization by violence 8., 9.. Previous research also indicates an increased prevalence of IPV among depressed men (10). Drinking and alcohol-related problems have also figured prominently as a risk factor for IPV in research over the last 30 years 4., 11., 12..

In addition to individual-level risk factors, recent research suggests that neighborhood or socioenvironmental factors may also be associated with increased risk for depression. For example, Yen and Kaplan (13) reported a two-fold increase for depression among residents of poverty areas characterized by high unemployment, crime, and family problems in the Alameda County Study. Indeed, many of the factors of risk for depression, such as unemployment, frequent residence moves, and multiple stressful life events 14., 15., 16. characterize the life of residents of poor and ethnic minority neighborhoods.

With this background, this article examines whether depression is an outcome of the presence of IPV in an intimate relationship. Drinking problems and sociodemographic, psychological, and contextual variables representing neighborhood characteristics are also considered in the analysis. Based on our own and others' research, we hypothesize that IPV, alcohol problems, and contextual factors, such as neighborhood poverty, will be associated with an increased risk of depression. A potential common thread linking all these areas is stress. IPV, problematic drinking, and depression have all been recognized as abnormal responses to life under stressful conditions (17). Life in neighborhoods characterized by poverty, high unemployment rates, lack of economic opportunities and breakdown of social networks has been identified as stressful, thus creating a context in which these abnormal responses develop side by side 17., 18., 19., 20..