Partner violence impacts the psychosocial and psychiatric status of pregnant, drug-dependent women.

The present study compared pregnant, drug-dependent women reporting current partner abuse (n=26) or no partner abuse (n=76) at treatment enrollment on initial psychosocial and psychiatric functioning. Abused pregnant women presented with more severe alcohol and family/social problems and greater rates of psychiatric problems and comorbidity than nonabused women did. The abused women reported that their partners had greater rates of alcohol and illicit drug use, relative to the partners of the nonabused women. Results suggest that treatment should address the women's relationships with their partners, especially when substance abuse and violence issues are present.