Exploring the Association between Economic Abuse and Mental Health Among IPV Survivors

Background and Purpose: While the impact of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse on the mental health of survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) are well-documented, less is known about the impact of economic abuse. Studies that have looked at the relationship between survivors mental health and abuse experiences tend to collapse multiple forms of abuse into one variable, rather than looking at economic abuse separately; others have looked at economic abuse as a component of psychological abuse, rather than as a unique form of violence. Because studies have found economic abuse to be a unique form of abuse, it is important to understand how it effects survivors’ mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between economic abuse and mental health symptoms (i.e. depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)) with a sample of survivors of IPV.

Methods: Data for this study came from a larger, longitudinal randomized control trial conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a financial education program for IPV survivors. Survivors were recruited from 14 domestic violence organizations across 7 states (N=456). This study utilizes data from data collection Time 1 only. Three hierarchical multiple regressions were run to examine if the addition of economic abuse improved the prediction of mental health symptoms over and above participants’ sociodemographic characteristics and psychological, physical, and sexual abuse (abuse experiences). Prior to running the analysis a series of tests were conducted to determine whether the data met the assumptions of multiple regression. In addition, frequencies and Pearson’s correlations were run.

Findings: The model predicting depression from participant characteristics and abuse experiences was statistically significant, R² = .114, F(11, 431) = 5.056, p =.000; adjusted R² = .092. The addition of economic abuse to the prediction of depression led to a statistically significant increase in R² of .016 F(1, 431) = 7.723, p = .006.  The model predicting anxiety from participant characteristics and abuse experiences was also statistically significant, R² = .110, F(11, 431) = 4.848, p =.000; adjusted R² = .087. The addition of economic abuse to the prediction of anxiety led to a statistically significant increase in R² of .009, F(1, 431) = 4.396, p = .037.  The model predicting PTSD from participant characteristics and abuse experiences was not statistically significant.

Conclusion and Implications: Results suggest the presence of economic abuse contributes to the mental health outcomes of survivors of IPV. As such, it is important that domestic violence organizations screen specifically for economic abuse during intake. Because the effects of economic abuse (e.g. economic exploitation) may continue to persist even after a survivor leaves an abusive relationship, it is important for advocates and counselors to be aware of survivors’ financial situations. Financial education programs should also be made available through domestic violence organizations, as studies have found such interventions effective in promoting positive financial behaviors that may be able to mitigate some of the negative effects of the economic abuse.