The impact of domestic violence on women's mental health

This longitudinal study aimed to establish a firmer scientific basis for re cognition and treatment of post-traumatic psychiatric morbidity associated with domestic violence. The study used a sample of 335 women (mean age 45.5 years) recruited from the Royal Brisbane Hospital Emergency Department. Th is paper reports baseline data. The outcome measures of lifetime psychiatri c diagnoses (DSM-111-R classification), showed that women who reported life time adult intimate abuse (n=162) received significantly more diagnoses of generalised anxiety, dysthymia, depression, phobias, current harmful alcoho l consumption and psychoactive drug dependence than those who reported no a buse ever (n=173). Of the 191 women tested for lifetime posttraumatic stres s disorder, those who reported lifetime abuse (n=115) received significantl y more diagnoses than those who reported no abuse (n=76). Crude prevalence rates of psychiatric diagnoses for women who reported double abuse as child and adult were significantly higher than for women who reported adult inti mate abuse only. Adjusted rates showed that doubly abused women had signifi cantly greater risk of current harmful alcohol consumption and lifetime dru g dependence than women who reported adult abuse only. A significant indepe ndent factor for lifetime psychiatric diagnoses was reporting abuse between a woman's parents. Measurement of the population attributable risk found t hat one-third of the psychiatric diagnoses were attributable to domestic vi olence.