Sex differences in the association between family violence involvement and emergency mental health presentations: a...

Females experiencing family violence as victims are at increased risk of emergency department mental health presentations. However, few studies have examined this association for males and perpetrators. We examined whether family violence reports to police were associated with contemporaneous mental health presentations and whether this differed for males and females and those that the police identified as perpetrators and victims.

Victoria Police provided lifetime data on family violence reports for 2,990 individuals who were the subject of family violence reports as either perpetrators or victims in 2016/17. This sample was linked to emergency mental health presentations from the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset. The association between monthly number of family violence reports and same-month emergency mental health presentations was examined over a one year period using multilevel logistic regression.

The number of family violence reports as either victim or perpetrator in any month was associated with significantly increased odds of an emergency department mental health presentation in the same month. An interaction effect was found between the sex of the individual and the number of family violence reports as a perpetrator, such that female perpetrators were at higher risk of emergency department mental health presentations compared to male perpetrators.

Police-reported family violence is associated with increased mental health emergency department presentations in the same month. The association is particularly strong for females who are identified as perpetrators. Strengthened collaboration between those responding to family violence and those responding to mental health crises is needed to help identify and address overlapping needs.