Intimate partner violence and its association with physical and mental health symptoms among older women in Germany

Stockl, Heidi and Penhale, Bridget ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8487-0606 (2015) Intimate partner violence and its association with physical and mental health symptoms among older women in Germany. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30 (17). pp. 3089-3111. ISSN 0886-2605

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Abstract

Intimate partner violence is a commonly acknowledged health care issue. While numerous studies established the health implications of physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence among women of reproductive age, the evidence is scarce for older women and for other forms of intimate partner violence. This study, therefore, investigates the prevalence of intimate partner violence in its different forms and its association with physical and mental health symptoms of older women, using women of reproductive age as a reference group. This study is a cross-sectional study, utilizing data from a national representative survey of 10,264 German women aged 16 to 86 years. Rates of physical and sexual intimate partner violence in the last year decreased from 8% to 3% and 1% among women aged 16 to 49 years, 50 to 65 years, and 66 to 86 years, respectively. The prevalence of emotional and economic abuse and controlling behavior by partners remained nearly the same. All forms of intimate partner violence had significant associations with women's health symptoms, such as gastrointestinal, psychosomatic and psychological symptoms, and pelvic problems. Controlling behavior was most consistently associated with most health symptoms. Health and care professionals who screen women for intimate partner violence should, therefore, consider incorporating questions about controlling behavior as well, because this form of violence is not only frequent but also has multiple health outcomes among women across all ages.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	anything related to domestic violence,battered women,domestic violence,elder abuse,mental health and violence,sdg 3 - good health and well-being,sdg 5 - gender equality,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/good_health_and_well_being
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health in Later Life (former - to 2017) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Dementia & Complexity in Later Life
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	24 Feb 2016 08:11
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2022 00:51
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/57236
DOI:	10.1177/0886260514554427

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