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Intimate partner violence perpetration and mental health service use in England: analysis of nationally representative survey data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2023

Vishal Bhavsar*
Affiliation:
Section of Women's Mental Health, King's College London, UK; and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Sally McManus
Affiliation:
Violence and Society Centre, City University of London, UK; and National Centre for Social Research, London, UK
Katherine Saunders
Affiliation:
Section of Women's Mental Health, King's College London, UK; and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Louise M. Howard
Affiliation:
Section of Women's Mental Health, King's College London, UK; and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
*
Correspondence: Vishal Bhavsar. Email: vishal.2.bhavsar@kcl.ac.uk
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Abstract

Background

Intimate partner violence perpetration (IPVP) is associated with psychiatric disorders, but an association with mental health service use has not been fully established and is relevant for policy. Mental health service contact by perpetrators of intimate partner violence presents an opportunity for reducing harmful behaviours.

Aims

To examine the association between IPVP and mental health service use.

Method

Analysis of national probability sample data from the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, testing for associations between lifetime IPVP and mental health service use. We assessed the impact of missing data with multiple imputation and examined misreporting using probabilistic bias analysis.

Results

The prevalence of reported lifetime IPVP was similar for men (8.0%) and women (8.6%). Before adjustments, IPVP was associated with mental health service use (odds ratio (OR) for any mental health service use in the past year for men: 2.8 (95% CI: 1.8–4.2), for women: 2.8 (95% CI: 2.1–3.8)). Adjustments for intimate partner violence victimisation and other life adversities had an attenuative influence. Associations remained on restricting comparisons with those without criminal justice involvement (OR for any mental health service use in the past year for men: 2.9 (95% CI: 1.7–4.8), for women: 2.3 (95% CI: 1.7–3.2)).

Conclusion

The strong association of IPVP with mental health service use is partly attributable to the concurrent presence of intimate partner violence victimisation and other life adversities. Efforts to improve the identification and assessment of IPVP in mental health services could benefit population health.

Information

Type
Paper
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
Figure 0

Table 1 Description of sample characteristics, including missing data. All proportions are weighted for the survey design

Figure 1

Table 2 Associations (odds ratios, ORs, with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses) of lifetime IPVP with health service use, including for mental health problems

Figure 2

Table 3 Associations of IPVP and non-partner violence perpetration with health service use, including for mental health problems

Supplementary material: File

Bhavsar et al. supplementary material

Tables S1-S3

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