Intimate Partner Violence, Mental Health Symptoms, and Modifiable Health Factors in Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US

"He Didn't Start Jumping on Me Until the Lockdowns": Victim and Advocate Intimate Partner Violence Experiences Throughout the Coronavirus Pandemic

This study examines the experiences of intimate partner violence victims and advocates across three timeframes: before the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, during the pandemic, and after the pandemic. Utilizing self-administered questionnaires, findings indicate that victims faced increased barriers to seeking help during the pandemic, including limited access to crisis intervention and support resources. Advocates reported adapting their strategies to provide remote support but also highlighted significant challenges in maintaining effective communication with victims. The post-pandemic phase reveals a complex landscape where some victims have regained access to resources while others continue to struggle with lingering effects of isolation and trauma.

Examining Mental Health Outcomes of Intimate Partner Violence Among Female Survivors in Taiwan: A Population-Based Study

Objective

Intimate partner violence (IPV) significantly affects women's health, but the lack of control groups in past studies hinders identifying high-risk populations and establishing evidence-based interventions. This study examines the link between IPV and women's mental health outcomes.

Methods

A nationwide database was used in this case-control study. The study targeted adult women aged 18-64 in 2019 and employed a case-control study design with a total sample size of 71,512 participants. Data were sourced from the Ministry of Health enrollment files, cause of death statistics, and outpatient and inpatient claims data. Chi-square tests were used to analyze the association between IPV with mental health outcomes and personal characteristics. Additionally, conditional logistic regression models were applied to investigate the impact of IPV on women's mental health outcomes.

Results

Compared with nonvictims, women who experienced IPV had significantly lower socioeconomic status and were at higher risk for various mental health outcomes. These included bipolar disorder (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 5.91, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.16-8.38), alcohol and substance abuse (adjusted OR = 4.84, 95% CI: 2.88-8.14), depression (adjusted OR = 4.67, 95% CI: 3.91-5.58), schizophrenia (adjusted OR = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.80-3.12), and anxiety (adjusted OR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.98-2.81).

Conclusions

This study identified several mental disorders highly associated with IPV among adult women, with particular emphasis on bipolar disorder, alcohol and substance abuse, and depression. Insights into high-risk mental health disorders will help clinical staff be alert to IPV and provide a reference for policy planning of IPV counseling and intervention.

Risk factors and consequences of mental health problems in nurses: A scoping review of cohort studies

Mental health problems in nurses are prevalent and impairing. To date, no literature has comprehensively synthesised cohort evidence on mental health among nurses. This scoping review aimed to synthesise the existing literature on the risk factors and consequences of mental health problems in nurses. A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, EMBASE, Epistemonikos database, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PsycINFO from inception to March 2023. We identified 171 cohort studies from 16 countries, mostly (95.3%) from high-income economies. This review indicated that nurses worldwide encountered significant mental health challenges, including depression, cognitive impairment, anxiety, trauma/post-traumatic stress disorder, burnout, sleep disorder, and other negative mental health problems. These problems were closely related to various modifiable risk factors such as nurses' behaviours and lifestyles, social support, workplace bullying and violence, shift work, job demands, and job resources. Moreover, nurses' mental health problems have negative effects on their physical health, behaviour and lifestyle, occupation and organisation, and intrapersonal factors. These findings provided an enhanced understanding of mental health complexities among nurses, and shed light on policy enactment to alleviate the negative impact of mental health problems on nurses. Addressing mental health among nurses should be a top priority.

Identifying best practices for substance-related intimate partner violence screening and referral: a narrative review

Introduction

Substance use is strongly associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) and is a modifiable risk factor for IPV. However, lack of comprehensive screening and referral for co-occurring IPV and substance use, along with their psychiatric sequalae, limits the identification and implementation of effective interventions for substance-related IPV. This narrative review (1) investigates the literature on screening and referral practices for IPV, and if these include screening for substance use or other psychiatric comorbidities, (2) provides recommendations for current best practices, and (3) suggests future directions for research and practice aimed at identifying and reducing substance-related IPV.

Methods

A narrative literature review examined studies investigating IPV screening and referral programs in clinics. Selected studies were reviewed for: (1) effectiveness, (2) barriers to implementation and sustainability, and (3) responsivity to psychiatric comorbidity, including substance use and substance use disorders (SUD).

Results

Findings suggest that effective IPV screening and referral programs have been developed, but disparities in IPV screening exist and many programs only screen for IPV victimization. Barriers to the implementation and sustainability of IPV screening programs include lack of ongoing provider training, funding or institutional support, and direct connection to referral services. Further, many IPV screening programs lack assessment of and referral for comorbid psychiatric conditions, including substance use, and tend not to be routinely implemented in SUD clinics.

Discussion

Additional systematic work is needed to develop universal and comprehensive screening and referral programs for substance-related IPV and address issues of long-term sustainability, particularly within SUD treatment settings.

COVID-19, new challenges to human safety: a global review

In the context of sustainable human development, human safety has gradually shifted from traditional state and political conflict to social conflict and horizontal inequality, and the pandemic has exacerbated this variation risk. This narrative review includes literature from 40 countries on five continents since 2020, explored and tidy up the impacts of pandemics on human safety based on three perspectives: personal safety, family safety and social safety, refined the macroscopic concept of human safety. The comprehensibility of the global review conclusions is enhanced by combining it with Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Finally, some novel and comparative results are included to broaden the understanding of the impact of the pandemic, and help policymaker better understand human safety changes from a new perspective.