The goal of this FIRST Award is to gain greater understanding concerning an important, yet understudied, group of violence victims, namely, pregnant women who have been physically abused by their male partners (husbands/boyfriends). More specifically, this study examines: (1) how patterns of partner violence before and during pregnancy are related to patterns of partner violence after infant delivery; (2) how partner violence affects women's mental health (including symptoms of post-traumatic stress, depression, alcohol abuse, and illicit drug abuse); and (3) whether infants of mothers who are victims of partner violence are at increased health risk (with a focus on the infant's risk of being physically abused), and whether the potential relationship between partner violence and infant health are modified by the mother's mental health status. Three groups of pregnant women will be recruited for study from a large prenatal clinic of a Health Department: (1) 50 women who were victims of partner violence both before, but not during, pregnancy; (2) 50 women who were victims of partner violence both before and during pregnancy; (3) a matched comparison group of 100 women who were not victims of partner violence before or during pregnancy. These women will be followed until their infants are approximately one year of age. Study data will be gathered from both reviews of the study participants' health and social service records, as well as study interviews conducted with the women at four time points (when the women are 6 months pregnant, 1, 6, and 12 months after infant delivery). Incorporated into the study interview will be several assessment instruments including the Conflict Tactics Scales 2, a Trauma Assessment, the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Scale Interview, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the short form of the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test, the Drug Abuse Screening Test, and Child Abuse Potential Inventory. State-of-the-art multivariate statistical procedures, specifically, generalized estimating equations analysis, will be used to address each of the study questions. These newly developed procedures are appropriate for the analysis of longitudinal data (both continuous and categorical outcomes) and will allow for the inclusion of potentially important time-dependent covariates in the study models.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
First Independent Research Support & Transition (FIRST) Awards (R29)
Project #
5R29MH056540-02
Application #
2655386
Study Section
Violence and Traumatic Stress Review Committee (VTS)
Project Start
1997-02-01
Project End
2002-01-31
Budget Start
1998-02-01
Budget End
1999-01-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1998
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
078861598
City
Chapel Hill
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27599
Macy, Rebecca J; Martin, Sandra L; Kupper, Lawrence L et al. (2007) Partner violence among women before, during, and after pregnancy: multiple opportunities for intervention. Womens Health Issues 17:290-9
Casanueva, Cecilia E; Martin, Sandra L (2007) Intimate partner violence during pregnancy and mothers'child abuse potential. J Interpers Violence 22:603-22
Martin, Sandra L; Li, Yun; Casanueva, Cecilia et al. (2006) Intimate partner violence and women's depression before and during pregnancy. Violence Against Women 12:221-39
Goldstein, Karen M; Martin, Sandra L (2004) Intimate partner physical assault before and during pregnancy: how does it relate to women's psychological vulnerability? Violence Vict 19:387-98
Martin, Sandra L; Beaumont, Jennifer L; Kupper, Lawrence L (2003) Substance use before and during pregnancy: links to intimate partner violence. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 29:599-617
Cloutier, Suzanne; Martin, Sandra L; Moracco, Kathryn E et al. (2002) Physically abused pregnant women's perceptions about the quality of their relationships with their male partners. Women Health 35:149-63