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Meta-Analysis
. 2012;7(12):e51740.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051740. Epub 2012 Dec 26.

Experiences of domestic violence and mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Kylee Trevillion  1 , Siân Oram, Gene Feder, Louise M Howard
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Experiences of domestic violence and mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Kylee Trevillion et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the extent to which being a victim of domestic violence is associated with different mental disorders in men and women. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and odds of being a victim of domestic violence by diagnostic category and sex.

Study design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data sources: Eighteen biomedical and social sciences databases (including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO); journal hand searches; scrutiny of references and citation tracking of included articles; expert recommendations, and an update of a systematic review on victimisation and mental disorder.

Inclusion criteria: observational and intervention studies reporting prevalence or odds of being a victim of domestic violence in men and women (aged ≥16 years), using validated diagnostic measures of mental disorder.

Procedure: Data were extracted and study quality independently appraised by two reviewers.

Analysis: Random effects meta-analyses were used to pool estimates of prevalence and odds.

Results: Forty-one studies were included. There is a higher risk of experiencing adult lifetime partner violence among women with depressive disorders (OR 2.77 (95% CI 1.96-3.92), anxiety disorders (OR 4.08 (95% CI 2.39-6.97), and PTSD (OR 7.34 95% CI 4.50-11.98), compared to women without mental disorders. Insufficient data were available to calculate pooled odds for other mental disorders, family violence (i.e. violence perpetrated by a non-partner), or violence experienced by men. Individual studies reported increased odds for women and men for all diagnostic categories, including psychoses, with a higher prevalence reported for women. Few longitudinal studies were found so the direction of causality could not be investigated.

Conclusions: There is a high prevalence and increased likelihood of being a victim of domestic violence in men and women across all diagnostic categories, compared to people without disorders. Longitudinal studies are needed to identify pathways to being a victim of domestic violence to optimise healthcare responses.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: Gene Feder and Louise M. Howard are members of the WHO Guideline Development Group on Policy and Practice Guidelines for responding to Violence Against Women and the NICE/SCIE Guideline Development Group on Preventing and Reducing Domestic Violence. KT and SO declare no competing interests. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow Diagram of Screened and Included Papers.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Pooled odds estimates for lifetime intimate partner violence among women with depressive disorders.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Pooled odds estimates for past year intimate partner violence among women with depressive disorders.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Pooled odds estimates for lifetime intimate partner violence among women with anxiety disorders.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Pooled odds estimates for past year intimate partner violence among women with anxiety disorders.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Pooled odds estimates for lifetime intimate partner violence among women with post-traumatic stress disorder.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. McClennen JC (2005) Domestic violence between same-gender partners: recent findings and future research. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 20: 149–154. - PubMed
    1. Campbell JC (2002) Health consequences of intimate partner violence. The Lancet 359: 1331–1336. - PubMed
    1. Golding MJ (1999) Intimate Partner Violence as a Risk Factor for Mental Disorders: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Family Violence 14: 99–132.
    1. Howard LM, Trevillion K, Khalifeh H, Woodall A, Agnew-Davies R, et al. (2010) Domestic Violence and Severe Psychiatric Disorders: prevalence and interventions. Psychological Medicine 40: 881–893. - PubMed

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