Citation

Gezinski LB, Gonzalez-Pons KM, Rogers MM. Violence Against Women 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077801219882496

PMID

31662096

Abstract

This study examined substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health (MH) among survivors of intimate partner violence, with data collected from 102 participants. Both survivors and service providers emphasized SUD and MH as top priorities and reported a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem coupled with increasing rates of heroin, methamphetamine, and pharmaceutical abuse. Emergent themes included (a) trauma impacts functioning, (b) substances as coping strategy, (c) weighing safety against need, (d) lacking SUD and MH services, and (e) need for comprehensive and culturally specific resources. Scarcity of funding demands cross-sector collaboration to support survivors.

Language: en

Keywords

intimate partner violence; substance use; trauma