Witnessing interparental violence in childhood and symptoms of depression in adulthood: data from the 2017 French Health Barometer

Abstract

Background: Every year, it is estimated that 143 000 French children are exposed to interparental violence (IPV). This exposure may have deleterious lifelong impact on mental health. Objective: To investigate the associations between exposure to IPV in childhood and, as adults, the presence of depressive symptoms during the past year, suicidal thoughts and lifetime suicide attempt. Methods: Our study is based on data from the 2017 French Health Barometer, a general population cross-sectional phone survey. 25 319 adults living in Metropolitan France responded. Data were weighted to obtain a representative sample of the French population. Associations between childhood exposure to IPV and each of three outcomes in adulthood - symptoms of depression, suicidal ideation in the past year and lifetime suicide attempt - were studied by calculating odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs), stratifying by sex and using multivariate models (logistic regression). Results: After adjustment for age, social variables, negative life events in childhood and lifetime history of sexual violence, reporting witnessed IPV is significantly associated with the presence of symptoms of depression during the past 12 months (aORmen = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.49-2.38, and aORwomen = 2.00, 1.72-2.32), suicidal thoughts in the past 12 months (aORmen = 1.97, 1.48-2.64, and aORwomen = 2.35, 1.89-2.93), and at least one lifetime suicide attempt (aORmen =2.39, 1.83-3.11 and aORwomen = 2.66, 2.25-3.16). Conclusion: Associations shown between a history of exposure to IPV and three mental health indicators in adulthood underline the need to study the lifelong impact of IPV.