Indicators identified for risk of intimate partner violence

Specific indicators identifying a woman's potential risk of domestic abuse have been developed by a research team at McMaster University.

The McMaster University Violence Against Women Research Group compiled the indicators after studying the responses of 768 women 18 to 64 years of age who arrived in emergency departments in two Ontario hospitals.

They found women who reported domestic violence — also known as intimate partner violence — during the past year were significantly more likely to be separated, living in a common-law relationship or single, to have a male partner employed less than part-time, to have a partner with an alcohol or drug problem, and to be experiencing depression or chronic pain symptoms. Pregnancy was not significantly associated with abuse status.

The research appears in the current issue of the online medical journal, Open Medicine.

Dr. Nadine Wathen, assistant professor with McMaster's department of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences, led the research and is available for interviews.

Wathen is also an assistant professor in the Faculty of Information & Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario.