Primary care-based interventions for intimate partner violence: a systematic review.

Context: Primary care providers are uniquely positioned to respond to patients' disclosure of intimate partner violence (IPV). However, the research on primary care-based IPV interventions has not been systematically synthesized, making it difficult for providers, policymakers, and researchers to understand how to effectively intervene in the primary care setting. This systematic review summarizes primary care-based interventions for patients experiencing IPV.

Academy on Violence and Abuse: highlights of proceedings from the 2011 conference, "toward a new understanding".

In April 2011, the Academy on Violence Abuse (http://www.avahealth.org/) convened a network of experts for its second annual conference, "Developing the Science of Violence and Abuse: Toward a New Understanding.

Cognitive and emotional processing in narratives of women abused by intimate partners.

This study examined relationships between cognitive and emotional processing with changes in pain and depression among intimate partner violence survivors. Twenty-five women who wrote about their most traumatic experiences completed measures of pain and depressive symptoms before the first writing session and again 4 months following the last writing session. Reduced pain was significantly associated with less use of positive and negative emotion words.

Relationships of depression to child and adult abuse and bodily pain among women who have experienced intimate partner violence.

This study investigates whether depression in women who experienced intimate partner violence is associated with having also experienced childhood sexual and physical abuse, psychological abuse by an intimate partner, recent involvement with the abusive partner, and bodily pain. Fifty-seven women who had left a violent relationship with an intimate partner completed measures assessing their demographic characteristics, experiences of abuse in childhood and in their relationship with their intimate partner, and depressive symptoms. Multiple regression analysis showed that women's depression was significantly greater among those who had experienced childhood physical and sexual abuse, more severe psychological abuse, and greater bodily pain (p<.

The effects of expressive writing on pain, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in survivors of intimate partner violence.

This study examined the effects of expressive writing on depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and pain symptoms among women who have survived intimate partner violence (IPV). Forty-seven women completed baseline and four-month follow-up assessments and were randomly assigned to four writing sessions of either expressive writing focused on traumatic life events or writing about a neutral topic. Main effects were not significant for changes in depression, pain or PTSD symptoms.