Abstract: [WITHDRAWN] Moderating Effects of Discrimination on Mental Health Outcomes Associated with IPV: Findings from a Nationally Representative Sample of Women and Transgender Emerging Adults (Society for Social Work and Research 28th Annual Conference - Recentering & Democratizing Knowledge: The Next 30 Years of Social Work Science)

Schedule:

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Congress, ML 4 (Marriott Marquis Washington DC)

* noted as presenting author

Lisa Fedina, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, MI

Yuliya Shyrokonis, MSW, Doctoral Student, University of Michigan, MI

Shichang Yang, MSW, MSW Student, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, MI

Dawnsha Mushonga, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD

Melissa Bessaha, PhD, LMSW, MA, Associate Professor, State University of New York at Stony Brook, NY

Background: The mental health consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV) are well-documented. However, little research has explored the relationship between discrimination, IPV, and mental health and in relation to other well-established risk and protective factors (e.g., social support, coping strategies such as substance use). This study assesses moderating effects of perceived discrimination in the relationship between IPV and mental health symptoms (i.e., suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, depression, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI)) using a nationally representative sample of cisgender women and transgender/non-binary emerging adults.

Methods: Data were analyzed from the National Survey of Polyvictimization and Suicide Risk (2021) – a nationally representative U.S. survey of 1,077 adults ages 18-29. A subsample of 541 participants identified as cisgender women and 25 identified as transgender or non-binary and were included in the current study. Independent variables included lifetime physical, sexual, and psychological IPV; perceived discrimination; social support; and substance use. Outcome variables included depression, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and NSSI. Hierarchical linear and logistic regressions were used to model associations between IPV and mental health symptoms, controlling for demographic factors (age, race, income, education, sexual orientation, gender identity), social support, and substance use. Interaction terms were entered to test moderating effects of discrimination in IPV and mental health symptoms.

Results: At the bivariate level, survivors of IPV reported significantly higher levels of perceived discrimination than participants without victimization (p<.001). Regression results indicate that IPV victimization was associated with increased odds for suicidal ideation (OR = 1.60), suicide attempts (OR = 1.61), and NSSI (OR = 1.56) and higher levels of depression (B = .09), controlling for other variables. Discrimination significantly moderated the relationship between IPV and suicidal ideation and IPV and NSSI such that the effect of discrimination on ideation and NSSI was stronger for survivors of IPV than those without IPV exposure. However, moderating effects were no longer significant after adding substance use to the models.

Conclusions: Structural discrimination influences mental health symptoms associated with IPV. Additionally, survivors in this nationally representative sample report overall greater levels of discrimination than individuals who have not experienced IPV. Practitioners should consider structural barriers and inequities experienced among survivors and develop survivor-centered intervention and support strategies. Additional risk and protective factors including social support and coping strategies should be enhanced in supportive interventions for survivors.