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Most victims of partner violence fail to use mental health services

Most survivors of intimate partner violence had not used mental health services in the past year despite having access to those services, researchers reported.

“Social stigmas, shame, privacy concerns, health care costs and lack of information may prevent survivors from getting the help they need,” study researcher Mansoo Yu, PhD, assistant professor of social work and public health at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said in a press release.

 

Mansoo Yu

Yu and colleagues studied current rates of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and alcohol and substance abuse among a sample of 50 female survivors of intimate partner violence who sought legal assistance through an advocacy program to end their abuse. The researchers examined whether the women had utilized mental health services in the past 12 months and whether the presence of psychiatric disorders had affected access to services.

The most common types of abuse reported were being pushed, grabbed or shoved (48%); being harassed over the telephone (44%); being called “crazy” (43%); being blamed their abuse (42%); and being slapped (40%). Use of the Composite Abuse Scale showed that 25% of the women had been threatened with a weapon and 20% had been raped by their abusive partner in the past year.

More than half (54%) of the women experienced either PTSD (36%), depression (48%) or both (30%) at the time they were interviewed for the study. Of those who had met DSM-IV criteria for alcohol abuse (26%) and drug abuse (18%) at one point in their lives, most reported to be in recovery.

Access to care

Although 54% of the sample experienced PTSD, depression, or both, only 34% had received mental health services in the past year. Among those who utilized mental health services, 77% enrolled in individual therapy, 53% participated in support groups, 35% pursued psychiatric services, and 29% received case management. All but one of these women said it was not difficult to access mental health services and that those services had been helpful.

Results also indicated that 28% of the women who relied on crisis hotlines for assistance and nearly one in five (19%) of the women who pursued help from the police did not find these services helpful.

According to the researchers, the presence of PTSD or depression did not negatively affect access to services, despite their expectations that the disorders would present barriers to care.

Although many of the women in the study did not utilize mental health services, nearly half of the cohort reported regularly seeing their primary care physician, which may have important clinical implications.

"Screening domestic abuse is an important first step in helping survivors of IPV," Yu told Psychiatric Annals. "Adding some items relevant to IPV to routine health history questions, especially for new patients, is a possible method. In the screening process, it is critical to create strategies for reducing discomfort and feelings of fear and shame."

Disclosure: Yu reports no relevant financial disclosures.