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. 2015 Jan 30;10(1):e0116609.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116609. eCollection 2015.

Association of childhood physical and sexual abuse with intimate partner violence, poor general health and depressive symptoms among pregnant women

Yasmin V Barrios  1 , Bizu Gelaye  1 , Qiuyue Zhong  1 , Christina Nicolaidis  2 , Marta B Rondon  3 , Pedro J Garcia  4 , Pedro A Mascaro Sanchez  4 , Sixto E Sanchez  5 , Michelle A Williams  1
Affiliations

Association of childhood physical and sexual abuse with intimate partner violence, poor general health and depressive symptoms among pregnant women

Yasmin V Barrios et al. PLoS One. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Objective: We examined associations of childhood physical and sexual abuse with risk of intimate partner violence (IPV). We also evaluated the extent to which childhood abuse was associated with self-reported general health status and symptoms of antepartum depression in a cohort of pregnant Peruvian women.

Methods: In-person interviews were conducted to collect information regarding history of childhood abuse and IPV from 1,521 women during early pregnancy. Antepartum depressive symptomatology was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Multivariable logistic regression procedures were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI).

Results: Any childhood abuse was associated with 2.2-fold increased odds of lifetime IPV (95%CI: 1.72-2.83). Compared with women who reported no childhood abuse, those who reported both, childhood physical and sexual abuse had a 7.14-fold lifetime risk of physical and sexual IPV (95%CI: 4.15-12.26). The odds of experiencing physical and sexual abuse by an intimate partner in the past year was 3.33-fold higher among women with a history of childhood physical and sexual abuse as compared to women who were not abused as children (95%CI 1.60-6.89). Childhood abuse was associated with higher odds of self-reported poor health status during early pregnancy (aOR = 1.32, 95%CI: 1.04-1.68) and with symptoms of antepartum depression (aOR = 2.07, 95%CI: 1.58-2.71).

Conclusion: These data indicate that childhood sexual and physical abuse is associated with IPV, poor general health and depressive symptoms in early pregnancy. The high prevalence of childhood trauma and its enduring effects of on women's health warrant concerted global health efforts in preventing violence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Prevalence of Childhood Physical and Sexual Abuse by Type and Perpetrators among Pregnant Women in Lima, Peru (N = 1,521).
Figure 2
Figure 2. Adjusted Odds Ratios (aOR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) of Being Abused by Intimate Partners during Lifetime in Relation to Childhood Abuse among Women in Lima, Peru (n = 1,521).*
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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