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Abstract

Background: Symptoms of mental disorder, particularly schizophrenia, predispose to victimisation. Much less is known about the relationship between depressive symptoms and later victimisation in the general population, the influence of these symptoms on types of subsequent victimisation, or the role of symptom severity. We investigated this in nationally representative data from the UK.

Methods: Data were from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007. Multivariable logistic regressions estimated association between: a. prior depressive symptoms, and b. prior depressive symptoms with suicide attempt, and types of more recent victimisation. Gender-specific associations were estimated using multiplicative interactions.

Results: Prior depressive symptoms were associated with greater odds of any recent intimate partner violence (IPV), emotional IPV, sexual victimisation, workplace victimisation, any victimisation, and cumulative victimisation (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for increasing types of recent victimisation: 1.47, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14, 1.89). Prior depressive symptoms with suicide attempt were associated with any recent IPV, emotional IPV, any victimisation, and cumulative victimisation (aOR for increasing types of recent victimisation: 2.33, 95%: 1.22, 4.44).

Limitations: Self-reported recalled data on previous depressive symptoms, may have limited accuracy. Small numbers of outcomes for some comparisons resulted in imprecision of these estimates.

Conclusion: Aside from severe mental illness such as schizophrenia, previous depressive symptoms in the general population are associated with greater subsequent victimisation. Men and women with prior depressive symptoms may be vulnerable to a range of types of victimisation, and may benefit from interventions to reduce this vulnerability.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article has been published in a revised form in European Psychiatry 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2020.50. This version is published under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND. No commercial re-distribution or re-use allowed. Derivative works cannot be distributed. © copyright holder.
Publisher Keywords:	intimate partner violence; victimisation; depression; epidemiology; workplace violence; sexual violence
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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