Covid-19 Pandemic's impact on socio-emotional problems experienced by victims of violence with disabilities

Studies on the emotional well-being of individuals with disabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic focused on the beginning of the pandemic and omitted the experiences of victims with disabilities.

We compared socio-emotional problems experienced by victims of violence with and without disabilities before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.

We conducted regression analysis using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey to examine the differences in socio-emotional problems experienced by violent crime victims with and without disabilities before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. We conducted descriptive analyses to explore patterns of receiving victim services.

Male victims without disabilities had lower odds of socio-emotional problems than female and male victims with disabilities before and throughout the pandemic. Female victims with disabilities had higher odds of socio-emotional problems than male victims with disabilities and female victims without disabilities before and during the first year of the pandemic. After the first year of the pandemic, female victims with and without disabilities and male victims with disabilities had no significant differences in their odds of experiencing socio-emotional problems. A higher percentage of victims received services during the pandemic in comparison to these patterns before the pandemic. After the first year of the pandemic, there was a notable increase in the percentage of female victims with and without disabilities and percentage of male victims with disabilities receiving victim services.

Our findings underline the disproportionate effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on socio-emotional well-being of victims with disabilities and especially female victims with disabilities.