Intimate partner violence before and during pregnancy: Related demographic and psychosocial factors and postpartum depressive symptoms among mexican american women

Corrie L. Jackson, Lucia Ciciolla, Keith Crnic, Linda Luecken, Nancy Gonzales, Dean V A Coonrod

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although research examining intimate partner violence (IPV) has expanded in recent years, there has been relatively little examination of the related demographic and psychosocial factors, as well as mental health outcomes, for IPV before and during pregnancy, especially in a Mexican American population. The current study provides a snapshot of the occurrence of IPV in a community sample of low-income, perinatal Mexican American women (n = 320). Results indicated that 13.1% of the women reported IPV beforepregnancy and 11.3% reported IPV during pregnancy. For both IPV before and during pregnancy, women born in the United States were more likely to report IPV than foreignborn women. For IPV before pregnancy, women who were not in a serious romantic relationship or reported a history of childhood trauma were also more likely to report IPV. For IPV during pregnancy, women who reported higher general stress and lower social support were also more likely to report IPV. Finally, the current study provided strong evidence that a history of IPV predicted elevated postpartum depressive symptoms, above and beyond the impact of prenatal depressive symptoms. This study brings greater awareness to a complex and harmful situation in an understudied population. Results are discussed in terms of the relation between demographic and psychosocial risk for IPV before and during pregnancy, acculturation, and postpartum depressive symptoms, as well as the implications for the development of future prevention and intervention programs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)659-679
Number of pages21
JournalJournal of interpersonal violence
Volume30
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2015

Keywords

  • Interpersonal violence
  • Latinas
  • Postpartum depression
  • Pregnancy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Applied Psychology

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