Health

2016
Narasimhan M, Orza L, Welbourn A, Bewley S, Crone T, Vazquez M. Sexual and reproductive health and human rights of women living with HIV: a global community survey. Bulletin of the World Health Organization . 2016;(94) :243-249. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www.wunrn.com/2016/05/hivaids-sexual-reproductive-rights-of-women-living-with-hiv-a-global-community-survey/?_sf_s=HIV+gl

In the development of any of its global guidelines, the World Health Organization (WHO) places importance on the values and preferences of the population or individuals that could be affected by the recommendations made within the guidelines. WHO has guidelines on the care, treatment and support for women living with HIV and their children in resource-con-strained settings, but these guidelines were published in 2006 and require updating. As an initial step in the updating process, WHO commissioned a global survey to listen to the voices of women living with HIV and determine these women’s sexual and reproductive health priorities. The main aim of the survey was to ensure that the values and preferences of women living with HIV would inform the guidelines from the very start of its development. The methods and key outcomes of the global survey are described and discussed below.

2013
Measuring and responding to violence against women in Kiribati - Action on gender inequality as a social determinant of health. World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific; 2013. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://iris.wpro.who.int/handle/10665.1/10446

As  in  many  places,  gender  inequality  is  prevalent  in  the  Pacific  island  nation  of  Kiribati.  the WHO commission on Social Determinants of Health underlined in 2008 that gender inequality  impacts  health  through  “discriminatory  feeding  patterns,  violence  against  women, lack of decision-making power, and unfair divisions of work, leisure, and possibilities of improving one’s life,” in addition to limiting access to health care services. A significant consequence  of  gender  inequality  is  the  high  level  of  gender-based  violence,  including  sexual, emotional and physical, perpetrated by intimate partners and non-partners. three years  after  the  final  report  of  the  Commission  on  Social  Determinants  of  Health,  WHO  convened  the  World  Conference  on  Social  Determinants  of  Health  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil, in october 2011 to review progress on implementing the recommendations of the commission, draw lessons from experiences and catalyse coordinated global action. this paper was developed in the run-up to the world conference as examples of policy action aimed at tackling key determinants of health and reducing health inequities. covering the period between 2008 and 2011, the paper demonstrates that efforts to measure the extent of a problem can raise political awareness and thereby effectively trigger policy responses on key determinants of gender-based violence and, more broadly, health.

Prior to 2008, health policy-makers were unaware of the prevalence of gender-based violence  in  Kiribati,  as  no  nationally  representative  study  on  the  problem  had  ever  been  conducted. with support from the Australian government, the United Nations Population Fund  (UNFPA)  and  the  Secretariat  of  the  Pacific  community  (SPC),  and  drawing  on  the  methodology  of  the  WHO  Multi-country  Study  on  Women’s  Health  and  Domestic  Violence, the kiribati ministry of Internal and social Affairs (MISA) conducted its first family health and support study in 2008. A committee of stakeholders was assembled to guide the research, support its planning and implementation, and provide a longitudinal sense of buy-in and ownership.

2011
Teitelman A, Ratcliffe SJ, Sullivan CM, McDonald CC, Brawner BM. Relationships Between Physical and Non-Physical Forms of Intimate Partner Violence and Depression among Urban Minority Adolescent Females. Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 2011;16 (2) :92-100. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3100197/

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

Background

Little is known about intimate partner violence (IPV) and depression among low income, urban African American and Hispanic adolescent females.

Method

Interviews with 102 urban African American and Hispanic adolescent females examined physical abuse, emotional/verbal abuse, and threats, and their unique and combined associations with depression.

Results

One-quarter of the sample experienced all three types of abuse. Non-physical forms of IPV were significantly associated with depression.

Conclusions

Some urban adolescent females from lower income households experience high rates of IPV. Physical and non-physical forms of IPV are important in understanding and responding to depression in this population.

2010
Kennedy AC, Bybee D, Greeson M, Sullivan CM. The impact of family and community violence on children's depression trajectories: examining the interactions of violence exposure, family social support, and gender. Journal of Family Psychology. 2010;24 (2) :197-207. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20438195

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

This longitudinal study used multilevel modeling to examine the relationships between witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV), community and school violence exposure (CSVE), family social support, gender, and depression over 2 years within a sample of 100 school-aged children. We found significant between-child differences in both the initial levels of depression and the trajectories of depression; depression over time was positively associated with change in witnessing IPV and CSVE and negatively associated with change in support. Two significant 3-way interactions were found: Gender and initial support, as well as gender and initial witnessing IPV, both significantly moderated the effect of change in witnessing IPV on the children's depression over time.

2008
Teitelman AM, Ratcliffe SJ, Morales-Aleman MM, Sullivan CM. Sexual Relationship Power, Intimate Partner Violence, and Condom Use Among Minority Urban Girls. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2008;23 (12) :1694-1712. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/23/12/1694.abstract

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

This study examined the association between sexual relationship power, intimate partner violence, and condom use among African American and Hispanic urban girls. In this sample of 56 sexually active girls, 50% did not use condoms consistently and therefore were at higher risk for acquiring HIV or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Teens who experienced more intimate partner violence had a significantly higher likelihood of inconsistent condom use and therefore a greater risk for HIV/STDs. Girls' sense of sexual control in their relationships was not directly associated with inconsistent condom use but was inversely related to verbal and emotional abuse. Interventions aimed at reducing HIV/STD risk for adolescent girls need to address patterns of dominance and control in adolescent relationships as well as multiple forms of partner violence. This suggests the need for multilevel intervention approaches that promote girls' agency and multiple ways to keep girls safe from perpetrators of partner abuse.

1998
Sutherland C, Sullivan CM, Bybee DI. The long-term effects of battering on women's health. Women's Health. 1998;4 (1) :41-70. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9520606

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

We examined the effects of intimate violence on the physical and psychological health of women over time. Changes in levels of physical and psychological abuse, injuries, physical health symptoms, anxiety, and depression were assessed three times: immediately after exit from a domestic violence program and at 81/2- and 141/2-month follow-ups. Analyses showed a significant decline in abuse, physical health symptoms, anxiety, and depression over time. Longitudinal structural equation modeling demonstrated that ongoing abuse was significantly related to increased physical and psychological health problems from one time period to the next, even when prior levels of physical and psychological health were controlled. Within each time interval, the effects of abuse on physical symptoms appeared to be mediated through anxiety and depression; although this relationship was replicated at several time points, the mediation was not verified across time, probably because measurement intervals were too long to reflect the underlying causal sequence. Although injuries were the direct result of abuse, injuries showed no significant effect on physical symptoms, anxiety, or depression. Implications for intervention and future research are discussed.

1995
Campbell R, Sullivan CM, Davidson WS. Women Who Use Domestic Violence Shelters:Changes in Depression Over Time. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1995;19 (2) :237-255. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://pwq.sagepub.com/content/19/2/237

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

This study examined the levels of depression reported by women who had used a domestic violence shelter. Depressive symptoms were assessed three times: immediately after shelter exit, 10 weeks thereafter, and 6 months later. Whereas 83% of the women reported at least mild depression on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale upon shelter exit, only 58% were depressed 10 weeks later. This did not change at the 6-month follow-up. An ecological, longitudinal model was evaluated to predict battered women's depression 8 1/2 months postshelter exit. Results of hierarchical regression analyses suggested that, after controlling for previous levels of depression, the women's feelings of powerlessness, experience of abuse, and decreased social support contributed to their depression symptoms. The women's scores on these three variables (feelings of powerlessness, abuse, and social support) at 10 weeks postshelter exit and at 6-month follow-up predicted depression at 6 months. Thus, there were both predictive and concurrent effects for these constructs. Implications for clinical and community interventions are discussed.