Macaranas Anjeli R, Tanriverdi Aylin E, Joseph Annie-Lori, Iverson Grant L, Valera Eve M
Author Affiliations: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (Ms Macaranas); Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (Mss Macaranas, Tanriverdi, and Joseph, and Dr Valera); Harvard College, Cambridge, MA (Ms Tanriverdi); Department of Psychology, Suffolk University, Boston, MA (Ms Joseph); Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (Dr Iverson); Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and the Schoen Adams Research Institute at Spaulding Rehabilitation, Charlestown, MA (Dr Iverson); Mass General for Children Sports Concussion Program, Boston, MA (Dr Iverson); Home Base, A Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program, Charlestown, MA (Dr Iverson); and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (Dr Valera).
J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2025;40(4):279-286. doi: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000001022. Epub 2024 Jul 1.
Prior studies have reported associations between childhood physical abuse and intimate partner violence (IPV). However, there has been limited literature examining the relationship between pediatric brain injuries and IPV-related brain injuries later in life. We examined the association between childhood brain injuries and brain injuries sustained from IPV in adulthood.
Participants were recruited through Mass General Brigham's "Rally," social media, and information sheets distributed in locations likely to serve women in current or past abusive relationships (eg, domestic violence shelters, and IPV support programs).
Women who have experienced IPV with and without brain injury (n = 129), ages 19 to 69.
Retrospective, cross-sectional study design.
We administered the Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method and the Brain Injury Severity Assessment to assess brain injury history, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). A logistic regression was used to examine the association between pediatric brain injuries and IPV-related brain injuries, adjusting for childhood trauma, years of education, and age.
A majority of participants (64.3%) reported experiencing at least 1 IPV-related brain injury, and 30.2% experienced at least 1 childhood brain injury. Child abuse-related brain injuries occurred in 10.9% of the sample, whereas childhood brain injuries from other causes occurred in 19.4% of participants. Participants who sustained at least 1 childhood BI were significantly more likely to sustain a future IPV-related brain injury as an adult (OR = 4.652, P = .004). For each additional childhood BI sustained, participants were more likely to sustain an IPV-related BI (OR = 3.198, P = .005).
This study illustrates a high prevalence of childhood brain injuries among women who have experienced IPV and identifies an association between pediatric brain injuries and brain injuries due to partner violence in adulthood. Our findings speak to the urgency of increasing our understanding of childhood brain injuries and whether they or other related factors might confer an increased risk for brain injuries or possibly IPV later in life.
先前的研究报告了儿童期身体虐待与亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）之间的关联。然而，关于儿童期脑损伤与日后IPV相关脑损伤之间关系的文献有限。我们研究了儿童期脑损伤与成年期IPV所致脑损伤之间的关联。
参与者通过麻省总医院布莱根分院的“集会”、社交媒体以及在可能为处于当前或过去虐待关系中的女性提供服务的场所（如家庭暴力庇护所和IPV支持项目）分发的信息表招募。
19至69岁、有或无脑损伤的经历过IPV的女性（n = 129）。
回顾性横断面研究设计。
我们采用俄亥俄州立大学创伤性脑损伤识别方法和脑损伤严重程度评估来评估脑损伤史，并使用儿童创伤问卷（CTQ）。采用逻辑回归分析儿童期脑损伤与IPV相关脑损伤之间的关联，并对儿童期创伤、受教育年限和年龄进行校正。
大多数参与者（64.3%）报告至少经历过1次与IPV相关的脑损伤，30.2%经历过至少1次儿童期脑损伤。样本中10.9%的人发生过与儿童虐待相关的脑损伤，而19.4%的参与者发生过其他原因导致的儿童期脑损伤。至少经历过1次儿童期脑损伤的参与者成年后发生未来与IPV相关脑损伤的可能性显著更高（OR = 4.652，P = 0.004）。每多经历1次儿童期脑损伤，参与者发生与IPV相关脑损伤的可能性就越大（OR = 3.198，P = 0.005）。
本研究表明，经历过IPV的女性中儿童期脑损伤的患病率很高，并确定了儿童期脑损伤与成年期伴侣暴力所致脑损伤之间的关联。我们的研究结果表明，迫切需要加深我们对儿童期脑损伤的理解，以及它们或其他相关因素是否可能增加日后脑损伤或可能的IPV风险。
