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

• Main Authors: Kylee Trevillion, Siân Oram, Gene Feder, Louise M Howard
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23300562/pdf/?tool=EBI

<h4>Background</h4>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.<h4>Methods</h4><h4>Study design</h4>Systematic review and meta-analysis.<h4>Data sources</h4>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.<h4>Inclusion criteria</h4>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.<h4>Procedure</h4>Data were extracted and study quality independently appraised by two reviewers.<h4>Analysis</h4>Random effects meta-analyses were used to pool estimates of prevalence and odds.<h4>Results</h4>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.<h4>Conclusions</h4>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.