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Abstract

Background
The poor health of unpaid carers is well-documented. Evidence also highlights that carers can experience high levels of domestic violence and abuse (DVA). However, links between DVA victimisation and health outcomes in carers remains largely overlooked. We examined DVA prevalence in carers and non-carers, and the relationship between carers’ DVA experience and health morbidities.

Methods
We analysed data from a general population probability sample survey of 6,971 adults (aged ≥ 16 years) in England. Multivariable logistic regression models examined associations between caregiving, DVA experience, and mental and physical health morbidities (i.e., common mental disorders (CMD), probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), harmful alcohol use and chronic physical health conditions), adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors.

Results
One person in five reported caring responsibilities. Caring was associated with higher odds of CMD and chronic physical health conditions. One in three carers reported experiencing DVA in adulthood, and carers were more likely to be victims of DVA than non-carers. In carers who experienced DVA, compared to carers reporting no DVA, adjusted odds of CMD (aOR 2.88, 95% CI 2.11–3.95); probable PTSD (aOR 5.67, 95% CI 3.12–10.30); hazardous alcohol use (aOR 1.53, 95% CI 1.09–2.15) and chronic physical health conditions (aOR 1.53, 95% CI 1.14–2.06), were significantly higher.

Conclusions
The risk of DVA victimisation among carers and the associated vulnerability to poorer health outcomes were highlighted. The need for greater awareness and identification of carers’ risk of DVA, and better provision of support for the negative health consequences are emphasised.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Publisher Keywords:	Carers, Domestic violence, Mental health, Physical health
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs School of Policy & Global Affairs > Violence and Society Centre
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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