Projects per year
Abstract
PURPOSE: The Women Aware with Their Children study was created because prospective data are required to accurately guide prevention programmes for intimate partner violence (IPV) and to improve the mental health and resettlement trajectories of women from refugee backgrounds in Australia. PARTICIPANTS: 1335 women (685 consecutively enrolled from refugee backgrounds and 650 randomly selected Australian-born) recruited during pregnancy from three public antenatal clinics in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. The mean age was 29.7 years among women from refugee backgrounds and 29.0 years among women born in the host nation. Main measures include IPV, mood, panic, post-traumatic stress disorder, disability and living difficulties. FINDINGS TO DATE: Prevalence of IPV at all three time points is significantly higher for refugee-background women. The trend data showed that reported IPV rates among Australian-born women increased from 25.8% at time 1 to 30.1% at time 3, while for refugee-background women this rate declined from 44.4% at time 1 to 42.6% at time 3. Prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) at all three time points is higher for refugee-background women. MDD among Australian-born women significantly declined from 14.5% at time 1 to 9.9% at time 3, while for refugee-background women it fluctuated from 25.1% at time 1 to 17.3% at time 2 and to 19.1% at time 3. FUTURE PLANS: We are currently examining trajectories of IPV and mental disorder across four time points. Time 4 occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling a unique opportunity to examine the impacts of the pandemic over time. Time 5 started in August 2021 and time 6 will begin approximately 12 months later. The children at time 5 are in the early school years, providing the capacity to examine behaviour, development and well-being of the index child.
Original language | English |
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Article number | e051887 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | BMJ Open |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - May 2022 |
Keywords
- Adult psychiatry
- MENTAL HEALTH
- PUBLIC HEALTH
Projects
- 2 Finished
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Refugee women, intimate partner violence and settlement: The first cohort study
Rees, S. J. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Fisher, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Steel, Z. P. (Chief Investigator (CI))
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (Australia)
1/01/19 → 31/12/22
Project: Research
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Identifying specific risk factors for intimate partner violence amongst women refugees during and after pregnancy: associates with mental health and capacity
Rees, S. J. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Fisher, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Steel, Z. P. (Chief Investigator (CI))
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (Australia)
1/01/15 → 31/12/18
Project: Research