Gun and Other Weapon–Involved Intimate Partner Violence and Psychiatric Symptoms
Tyson Whitten, Kimberlie Dean, Alvin Kuowei Tay, Batool Moussa, Fatima Hassoun, Jane Fisher, Melissa J. Green, Susan J. ReesImportance
Gun, knife, or other weapon involvement in intimate partner violence (IPV) may indicate heightened actual and perceived lethality and coercive control, but its mental health impacts on survivors are poorly understood after accounting for other IPV and prior mental health symptoms.
Objective
To estimate the adjusted association between gun and other weapon–involved IPV and symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD), panic disorder (PD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and adult separation anxiety disorder (ASAD), accounting for concurrent and past nonweapon physical IPV, psychological abuse, and prior symptom levels.
Design, Setting, and Participants
This prospective, longitudinal cohort study with 6 waves at 12- to 18-month intervals recruited participants from January 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016, from public antenatal clinics in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. Women with exposure and outcome data from at least 2 waves were eligible for the study. Data analysis was conducted in February 2025.
Exposures
Past-year gun and other weapon-involved IPV, nonweapon physical IPV, and psychological abuse.
Main Outcomes and Measures
Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (
Results
Among 1114 women (mean [SD] age at wave 1, 29.48 [5.42] years), 585 (52.5%) were migrants; median birth year was 1987 (range, 1969-1999). Across follow-up, 43 women (3.9%) reported gun or other weapon–involved IPV, 171 (15.4%) nonweapon physical IPV, and 726 (65.2%) psychological abuse. In fully adjusted models, weapon-involved IPV remained associated with PD (β̂ = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.08-1.50) and PTSD (β̂ = 1.07; 95% CI, 0.38-1.76) but not MDD (β̂ = 0.12; 95% CI, −0.55 to 0.79) or ASAD (β̂ = −0.12; 95% CI, −0.81 to 0.57). Adjusted pooled marginal differences were 0.57 (95% CI, 0.04-1.44) for PD and 0.69 (95% CI, 0.17-1.59) for PTSD; within-person transition effects were 1.12 (95% CI, 0.08-2.24) for PD and 1.14 (95% CI, 0.26-2.02) for PTSD.
Conclusions and Relevance
In this cohort study, gun and other weapon–involved IPV was independently associated with higher PD and PTSD symptom counts after controlling for other IPV types and prior mental health. Identifying weapon-involved IPV should alert clinicians to fear-related presentations and prompt safety-focused interventions.