Multnomah Department of County Human Services, Portland, OR, USA.
J Interpers Violence. 2012 Mar;27(4):623-43. doi: 10.1177/0886260511423241. Epub 2011 Oct 10.
Advocates, clinicians, policy makers, and survivors frequently cite intimate partner violence (IPV) as an immediate cause of or precursor to housing problems. Research has indicated an association between homelessness and IPV, yet few studies examine IPV and housing instability. Housing instability differs from homelessness, in that someone experiencing housing instability may currently have a place to live but faces difficulties with maintaining the residence. We present baseline findings from a longitudinal cohort study of 278 female IPV survivors with housing as a primary concern. Our analysis indicates the greater the number of housing instability risk factors (e.g., eviction notice, problems with landlord, moving multiple times), the more likely the abused woman reported symptoms consistent with PTSD (p < .001), depression (p < .001), reduced quality of life (p < .001), increased work/school absence (OR = 1.28, p < .004), and increased hospital/emergency department use (OR = 1.22, p < .001). These outcomes persist even when controlling for the level of danger in the abusive relationship and for survivors' drug and alcohol use. Importantly, both housing instability and danger level had stronger associations with negative health outcomes than other factors such as age, alcohol, and drug use; both make unique contributions to negative health outcomes and could contribute in different ways. Housing instability is an important and understudied social determinant of health for IPV survivors. These findings begin to address the literature gap on the relationship between housing instability, IPV, and survivors' health, employment, and utilization of medical care services.
倡导人士、临床医生、政策制定者和幸存者经常将亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）作为住房问题的直接原因或前兆。研究表明，无家可归与 IPV 之间存在关联，但很少有研究探讨 IPV 和住房不稳定问题。住房不稳定与无家可归不同，因为住房不稳定的人可能目前有住所，但在维持住所方面存在困难。我们介绍了一项针对 278 名女性 IPV 幸存者的纵向队列研究的基线结果，这些女性主要关注住房问题。我们的分析表明，住房不稳定风险因素（例如驱逐通知、与房东的问题、多次搬家）越多，受虐待的女性报告符合 PTSD（p<0.001）、抑郁（p<0.001）、生活质量下降（p<0.001）、工作/学校缺勤增加（OR=1.28，p<0.004）和医院/急诊就诊增加（OR=1.22，p<0.001）的可能性就越大。即使控制了虐待关系中的危险程度以及幸存者的药物和酒精使用情况，这些结果仍然存在。重要的是，住房不稳定和危险程度与负面健康结果的关联比其他因素（如年龄、酒精和药物使用）更强；两者都对负面健康结果有独特的影响，并可能以不同的方式产生影响。住房不稳定是 IPV 幸存者健康的一个重要且研究不足的社会决定因素。这些发现开始解决有关住房不稳定、IPV 和幸存者健康、就业以及医疗保健服务利用之间关系的文献差距。
