Women with mood disorders and couples conflict: menopause symptom improvement, after group therapy

Abstract

Objective Although a public health crisis, intimate partner violence (IPV) has been understudied for middle-aged women with mood disorders during their perimenopausal and postmenopausal years. The aims of this study were to examine the relationship between IPV and hot flashes/night sweats (HF/NS) frequency and severity among women with mood disorders and to test whether the effect of cognitive behavioral group therapy on menopausal symptoms differs between those with and without IPV at baseline and post-test. Methods Of 59 participants from a mood disorders outpatient clinic enrolled in the parent study, 24 experienced IPV. This study analyzed pretreatment and post-treatment data from the Revised Conflict Tactic Scale – Short Form-2, and HF/NS frequency and severity ratings on the Hot Flash Daily Diary using the McNemar chi-square test. Results The presence of any type of violence at pretreatment was significantly (p < 0.01) linked to improvements in HF/NS frequency and severity. Women who showed improvements in negotiation skills had better outcomes in menopausal symptoms. Sexual coercion increased from one to three women. Conclusions Negotiation skills may help women with mood disorders to reduce HF/NS frequency and severity. More studies need to be conducted with a special focus on helping women in this population.