• Katherine M Iverson, Christina M Dardis, Sean Cowlishaw, Aliya R Webermann, Danielle R Shayani, Melissa E Dichter, Karen S Mitchell, Kristin M Mattocks, Megan R Gerber, and Galina R Portnoy.
• Women's Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA. Katherine.Iverson@va.gov.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Sep 1; 37 (Suppl 3): 724733724-733.

BackgroundLittle is known about women veterans' intimate partner violence (IPV) experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic or the impacts of pandemic-related stress on their mental and physical health.ObjectivesTo identify IPV experiences among women veterans prior to and during the pandemic, pandemic-related stressors, and examine their respective contributions to mental and physical health.DesignNational sample of women veterans drawn from a larger web-based longitudinal study. Relationships between recent IPV and pandemic-related stressors were tested with linear regressions, controlling for pre-pandemic IPV and mental and physical health symptoms, demographic, and military-related covariates.ParticipantsOne hundred forty-two women veterans (Mage=58.8 years).Main MeasuresWe assessed IPV (CTS-2), PTSD (PCL-5), depression (CESD), anxiety (DASS-A), physical health (PHQ-15), and physical health-related quality of life (SF-12) prior to the pandemic (June 2016-December 2016/January 2017) and during the pandemic study period (March 2020-December 2020/January 2021). We assessed pandemic-related stressors (EPII) during the pandemic study period.Key ResultsOver a third (38.7%) of participants experienced IPV during the pandemic study period (psychological: 35.9%, physical: 9.9%, sexual: 4.2%). Overall rates, frequency, and severity of IPV experience did not significantly differ between the pre-pandemic and pandemic study periods. Few participants tested positive for COVID-19 (4.2%); however, most participants reported experiencing pandemic-related stressors across life domains (e.g., social activities: 88%, physical health: 80.3%, emotional health: 68.3%). IPV during the pandemic and pandemic-related stressors were both associated with greater PTSD and depressive symptoms. Pandemic-related stressors were associated with worse anxiety and physical health symptoms. Neither IPV during the pandemic nor pandemic-related stressors were associated with physical health-related quality of life.ConclusionsIPV experiences during the pandemic were common among women veterans, as were pandemic-related stressors. Although IPV did not increase in the context of COVID-19, IPV experiences during the pandemic and pandemic-related stressors were linked with poorer mental and physical health.© 2022. The Author(s).

14 keywords...

hide…