Mental health trajectories of women experiencing differing patterns of intimate partner violence across the first 10 years of motherhood

Alison Fogarty; Stephanie J Brown; Deirdre Gartland; Fiona Mensah; Kelly M FitzPatrick; Rebecca Giallo

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115261

Mental health trajectories of women experiencing differing patterns of intimate partner violence across the first 10 years of motherhood

Psychiatry Res. 2023 Jul:325:115261. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115261. Epub 2023 May 22.

Authors

Alison Fogarty¹, Stephanie J Brown², Deirdre Gartland³, Fiona Mensah³, Kelly M FitzPatrick⁴, Rebecca Giallo⁵

Affiliations

¹ Intergenerational Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville 3052, Australia. Electronic address: ali.fogarty@mcri.edu.au.
² Intergenerational Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville 3052, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville 3052, Australia; Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, 780 Elizabeth St, Melbourne 3010, Australia.
³ Intergenerational Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville 3052, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville 3052, Australia.
⁴ Intergenerational Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville 3052, Australia.
⁵ Intergenerational Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville 3052, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville 3052, Australia; School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.

PMID: 37244158
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115261

Abstract

Intimate partner violence is commonly experienced by women and associated with poor mental health outcomes. Evidence regarding the patterns of IPV across time, and the associated long term course of depressive symptoms is lacking. The current study aimed to (a) identify patterns of physical and emotional IPV experienced by women over the 10 years since having their first child, and (b) identify trajectories depressive symptoms across the 10-year period for each pattern of IPV exposure. Data was drawn from the Mothers' and Young People's Study (MYPS), a longitudinal study of 1507 mothers and their first born child. Data was collected during pregnancy and at one, four, and ten years postpartum. Using Latent Class Analysis, four distinct classes of IPV were identified: (1) Minimal IPV, (2) Early IPV exposure, (3) Increasing IPV, and (4) Persistent IPV. Latent growth modelling revealed that all classes characterised by some IPV exposure experienced elevated trajectories of depressive symptoms in comparison to the minimal IPV class. Those experiencing increasing and persistent IPV experienced the most severe course of depressive symptoms.

Keywords: Aggression; Depressive symptoms; Emotional abuse; Latent class analysis; Longitudinal studies; Postpartum.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Child, Preschool
Emotions
Female
Humans
Infant
Intimate Partner Violence* / psychology
Longitudinal Studies
Mental Health*
Mothers / psychology
Pregnancy