Esopenko Carrie, Jain Divya, Hicks Amelia J, Carter Emily, Carlsson Ella, Cwiek Andrew, Dorman Katherine, Méndez-Fernández Adriana P, Read Emma N, Rebuck Elizabeth, Rojczyk Philine, Velez Carmen, Koerte Inga K, Lin Alexander P, Tate David F, Hillary Frank G, Wilde Elisabeth A, Marshall Amy D
Author Affiliations: Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, New York (Dr Esopenko, Dr Jain, Dr Hicks, Ms Carlsson, and Ms Dorman); Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania (Ms Carter, Mr Cwiek, Ms Méndez-Fernández, Ms Rebuck, Dr Hillary, and Dr Marshall); Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion Center, Department of Neurology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah (Ms Read, Ms Velez, Dr Tate, and Dr Wilde); George E. Wahlen Department of Veteran Affairs Salt Lake City Healthcare System, Salt Lake City, Utah (Ms Read, Dr Tate, and Dr Wilde); cBRAIN, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Bavaria, Germany (Drs Rojczyk and Koerte); Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Mass General Brigham, Harvard Medical School, Somerville, Massachusetts (Drs Rojczyk, Koerte, and Lin); German Center for Child and Adolescent Health (DZKJ), partner site Munich, Munich, Germany (Dr Koerte); Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (Dr Lin); Center for Clinical Spectroscopy, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (Dr Lin); Social Life and Engineering Sciences Imaging Center, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania (Dr Hillary); and Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia (Dr Marshall).
J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2025 May 8. doi: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000001062.
The aim of the study was to characterize the experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV)-related head trauma (HT) among cisgender women.
Three geographic regions across the United States.
Seventy-two cisgender women aged 18 to 60 years (mean age = 39.6 years).
In-depth semi-structured interviews.
Participants completed a semi-structured interview, which was audio-recorded to determine the number and mechanisms of IPV-HT injuries experienced over their lifetime. Quotes from interview transcriptions were used to illustrate how participants describe their IPV-HT episodes.
A total of 69/72 cisgender women reported at least 1 injury episode that involved IPV-HT. Participants reported between 1 and 9 injury episodes that involved HT during their lifetimes. Participants reported a total of 240 injury episodes, of which 186 represented a single, isolated injury, while 54 were a repetitive exposure by the same mechanism(s) of injury over time. The time over which an injury episode was repeated ranged from 1 month to 16 years (mean: 4.72 years, standard deviation: 4.70 years). The most frequent mechanisms of injury were blunt force trauma (41.7%) and strangulation (22.1%), while 22.5% of episodes involved multiple mechanisms. The most common within-person overlap of mechanisms was blunt force trauma and strangulation (n = 21, 31%). The interview quotes demonstrated that the true frequency of IPV-HT may be unknown and/or unable to be recalled, highlighting the challenges in capturing accurate IPV-HT exposure within this population even through in-depth interviews.
This study provides important information on the experience of HT among women with exposure to IPV. Such findings may improve our ability to characterize and understand the injuries resulting from IPV among women, which may, in turn, benefit existing tools for determining experiences of IPV-HT and probable brain injury.
本研究旨在描述顺性别女性中亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）相关头部创伤（HT）的经历。
美国的三个地理区域。
72名年龄在18至60岁之间的顺性别女性（平均年龄 = 39.6岁）。
深入的半结构化访谈。
参与者完成了一次半结构化访谈，并进行了录音，以确定其一生中经历的IPV-HT伤害的数量和机制。访谈转录中的引述用于说明参与者如何描述她们的IPV-HT事件。
共有69/72名顺性别女性报告至少有1次涉及IPV-HT的伤害事件。参与者报告在其一生中发生了1至9次涉及HT的伤害事件。参与者总共报告了240次伤害事件，其中186次为单次、孤立的伤害，而54次是随着时间推移同一伤害机制的反复暴露。伤害事件重复发生的时间范围为1个月至16年（平均：4.72年，标准差：4.70年）。最常见的伤害机制是钝器创伤（41.7%）和勒颈（22.1%），而22.5%的事件涉及多种机制。最常见的个体内机制重叠是钝器创伤和勒颈（n = 21，31%）。访谈引述表明，IPV-HT的实际发生率可能未知和/或无法回忆，这突出了即使通过深入访谈在该人群中获取准确的IPV-HT暴露情况的挑战。
本研究提供了关于接触IPV的女性中HT经历的重要信息。这些发现可能会提高我们描述和理解女性IPV所致伤害的能力，这反过来可能会有益于现有的确定IPV-HT经历和可能的脑损伤的工具。
