Mental Health in Women Victims of Gender Violence: Descriptive and Multivariate Analysis of Neuropsychological Functions and Depressive Symptomatology.

Miguel Pérez-Fernández,Concha Antón Rubio,María Concepción Vega-Hernández,Ana Victoria Torres García

doi:10.3390/ijerph19010346

Miguel Pérez-Fernández, Concha Antón Rubio + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010346

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Abstract

Female victims of abuse, as well as suffering from psychopathological disorders such as depression, can have neuropsychological sequelae affecting memory and attention, with serious consequences, both physical and psychological, in their daily lives. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyse these sequelae that affect attention and memory, as well as the possible association of these sequelae to depression. A total of 68 women, victims of gender-based violence, between the ages of 15 and 62 participated in this study. The Luria DNA Battery (Neuropsychological Diagnosis of Adults) by Manga and Ramos (2000); and the Beck Depression Inventory (2011) were applied. It is shown that female victims of gender-based violence present poor short-term memory, attentional control, and score low on the Luria-DNA battery. Of these women, 60% suffer from some relevant type of depression. Through HJ-Biplot analysis, a direct relationship was found between memory and attentional control with the total score of the Luria battery. However, an inverse relationship was found between short-term memory and depression. In addition, three well-differentiated clusters of female victims of gender-based violence were identified. It is concluded that a lower rate of depression is observed in female victims of abuse when they have a more intact short-term memory.

Highlights

Gender violence is a social scourge that affects women all over the world, and is considered the most brutal example of inequality in our society
We found significant differences in depressive symptomatology between the groups of women victims of gender-based violence, which relate to the level of short-term memory and the total score of the Luria-DNA battery
Women victims of gender violence present low neuropsychological performance. They show impairment in the memory area, obtain lower scores in the Luria DNA battery in logical thinking, visual perception and thematic drawings, followed by attentional control, with the highest scores obtained in speech and short-term memory

Summary

Introduction

Gender violence is a social scourge that affects women all over the world, and is considered the most brutal example of inequality in our society. In the Spanish legal system, article 1 of Organic Law 1/2004 on Comprehensive Protection against Gender. Violence defines it as: “Any act of violence (...) that, as a manifestation of discrimination, the situation of inequality and the power relations of men over women, is exercised against women by those who are or have been their spouses or by those who are or have been linked to them by similar relationships of affection, even without cohabitation. (...) that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, as well as threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.” [1].

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