Intimate partner violence, substance use, and health comorbidities among women: A narrative review.

Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), including physical, sexual, and psychological violence, aggression, and/or stalking, impacts overall health and can have lasting mental and physical health consequences. Substance misuse is common among individuals exposed to IPV, and IPV-exposed women (IPV-EW) are at-risk for transitioning from substance misuse to substance use disorder (SUD) and demonstrate greater SUD symptom severity; this too can have lasting mental and physical health consequences. Moreover, brain injury is highly prevalent in IPV-EW and is also associated with risk of substance misuse and SUD. Substance misuse, mental health diagnoses, and brain injury, which are highly comorbid, can increase risk of revictimization. Determining the interaction between these factors on the health outcomes and quality of life of IPV-EW remains a critical need. This narrative review uses a multidisciplinary perspective to foster further discussion and research in this area by examining how substance use patterns can cloud identification of and treatment for brain injury and IPV. We draw on past research and the knowledge of our multidisciplinary team of researchers to provide recommendations to facilitate access to resources and treatment strategies and highlight intervention strategies capable of addressing the varied and complex needs of IPV-EW.

Supporting survivors of campus dating and sexual violence during COVID-19: A social work perspective.

The issue of dating and sexual violence (DSV) on college campuses has received increased attention nationwide as a criminal justice and public health issue. College and university employed social workers play a critical role in preventing and responding to campus DSV through direct clinical services to students as well as prevention through educational programming and training. COVID-19 has negative implications for DSV student victims, as well as service delivery and accessibility. This paper examines the innovative methods used by university employed social work clinicians and educators to meet evolving mental health care needs and continue violence prevention services during COVID-19.

A global collaboration to study intimate partner violence-related head trauma: The ENIGMA consortium IPV working group.

Intimate partner violence includes psychological aggression, physical violence, sexual violence, and stalking from a current or former intimate partner. Past research suggests that exposure to intimate partner violence can impact cognitive and psychological functioning, as well as neurological outcomes. These seem to be compounded in those who suffer a brain injury as a result of trauma to the head, neck or body due to physical and/or sexual violence. However, our understanding of the neurobehavioral and neurobiological effects of head trauma in this population is limited due to factors including difficulty in accessing/recruiting participants, heterogeneity of samples, and premorbid and comorbid factors that impact outcomes. Thus, the goal of the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium Intimate Partner Violence Working Group is to develop a global collaboration that includes researchers, clinicians, and other key community stakeholders. Participation in the working group can include collecting harmonized data, providing data for meta- and mega-analysis across sites, or stakeholder insight on key clinical research questions, promoting safety, participant recruitment and referral to support services. Further, to facilitate the mega-analysis of data across sites within the working group, we provide suggestions for behavioral surveys, cognitive tests, neuroimaging parameters, and genetics that could be used by investigators in the early stages of study design. We anticipate that the harmonization of measures across sites within the working group prior to data collection could increase the statistical power in characterizing how intimate partner violence-related head trauma impacts long-term physical, cognitive, and psychological health.