Gender-Specific Effects of Different Forms of Intimate Partner Violence on Mental Health and Substance Abuse

There is an ongoing debate about gender differences in the direction, magnitude, forms, and consequences of intimate partner violence. The findings of studies reporting gender symmetry in intimate partner violence (IPV) are challenged on the basis that they do not consider such forms of IPV as coercive control and physical violence. The present study is from a large-scale ongoing birth cohort study. At 21 years of age, respondents completed a questionnaire assessing their social and economic circumstances, experiences of IPV, and their mental health. At 30 years of age, respondents completed the Composite Abuse Scale. Three scales of IPV were used. The scales were of physical violence, emotional abuse, and coercive control. These scales were used in conjunction with questions about fear of a partner to predict respondent levels of Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI)-diagnosed depression and drug use disorders. The CIDI was administered at 30 years of age. Analyses are stratified by gender and with adjustment for all other forms of IPV. While there were few gender differences in forms of IPV, female respondents consistently and more often feared their partners if they had experienced any form of IPV. Experience of any form of IPV was associated with increased rates of mental illness for both males and females. Female respondents' experiences of IPV were generally associated with increased levels of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) depression, while male experiences of IPV were associated with increased levels of DSM-IV drug use disorders.