Racial Disparities in Intimate Partner Violence and in Seeking Help With Mental Health

Abstract

Applying Aday and Andersen's health services utilization model, this examination of racial disparities in women's experience of intimate partner violence also looked at racial disparities in mental disorders and in use of mental health professionals' help. We conducted a secondary data analysis of 6,589 women completing the National Violence Against Women Survey. Per our linear regression results, minority women, versus White, tended proportionally to seek less help from mental health professionals. Help seeking by African American women was less likely if they were using illegal drugs; among Hispanic women, additional threats from partner curtailed help seeking from mental health professionals. "Other ethnic minority" women's help seeking decreased with their use of stimulants. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Survivors’ Help-Seeking

“…This kind of underutilization of a specific help source has been explained by survivor’s decisions to seek a service based on their perception of service effectiveness and service providers’ attitude toward them, such as survivors being blamed for the negative consequences of IPV (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Overall, survivors exposed to their violent partner’s controlling behavior at a higher level are more likely to use mental health services than those exposed to a lower level (Cheng & Lo, 2015). However, there seems to be a negative relationship between having PTSD and depression, and help-seeking (Edmond, Bowland, & Yu, 2013; Kulwicki, Ballout, Kilgore, Hammad, & Dervartanian, 2015).…”

“…African American survivors are 1.5 times more likely to call the police than White counterparts (Bachman & Coker, 1995; Buzawa et al, 2011). Minority women, Black and Hispanic in particular, tend to be less likely to seek mental health services to address IPV outcomes than White women (Cheng & Lo, 2015; Lacey et al, 2013; Lipsky & Caetano, 2007). Some types of services, such as emergency department services and housing resources, tend to be used by non-Hispanic White and Black IPV survivors more than by other ethnic groups (Lipsky & Caetano, 2007).…”

“…Intimate partner violence (IPV) results in numerous physical and mental health consequences, and survivors need to seek help in addressing them (Buzawa, Buzawa, & Stark, 2011; Lacey, McPherson, Samuel, Sears, & Head, 2013). Research shows that some survivors do not seek critically needed help, and that their help-seeking is affected by many factors, including their sociodemographic characteristics and the nature of the IPV (Breiding, Chen, & Black, 2014; Cheng & Lo, 2015; Cho & Kim, 2012; Kaukinen, Meyer, & Akers, 2013; Lacey et al, 2013; Lipsky & Caetano, 2007; Tsui, 2014). Many IPV survivors seem to experience multiple types of violence concurrently and/or over time (Mitchell & Anglin, 2009).…”

“…Help-seeking by IPV survivors is likely to be affected by their history and pattern of violence victimization. Research also suggests that a survivor’s selection of a help source is influenced by many factors such as race, age, socioeconomic status (SES), and gender (Abel, 2001; Cheng & Lo, 2015; Cho & Kim, 2012; Choudhary, Coben, & Bossarte, 2010; Hurwitz, Gupta, Liu, Silverman, & Raj, 2006; Kaukinen et al, 2013; Lacey et al, 2013; Lipsky & Caetano, 2007; Tsui, 2014; C. M. West, Kantor, & Jasinski, 1998).…”

Expanding perspectives: A social inequities lens on intimate partner violence, reproductive justice, and infant mental health

“…Psychological sequelae for those who experience IPV include fear, anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (Johnson & Leone, ; Kelly & Johnson, ). Women of color who experienced IPV have been found to be less likely than are White women to seek mental health help (Cheng & Lo, ), leaving them with increased risk to their own functioning and to the development of a healthy attachment relationship with their children.…”