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The deleterious and far reaching health and social consequences of IPV are complex and bound to multiple environmental and biological factors. Attempts to disentangle some of these links, requires an initial examination of the extent of the problem, and a review of known health related associations. Alcohol consumption is associated with increased risk of all forms of interpersonal violence [14-15]. In South Africa, intimate partner violence has been shown to be significantly positively associated with drinking alcohol [3]. Furthermore, alcohol abuse is a significant problem in South Africa, with one study reporting that 37.4% of men and 10.7% of women were identified as hazardous drinkers [16]. Also of significance is the finding that 30-50 % of arrestees in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg charged with offences categorised as “family violenceÀ have raised blood alcohol levels , increasing the weight of evidence linking alcohol and violence [17]. Most of the research examining the health outcomes following IPV have come from industrialized countries, and show that depression and PTSD are the most prevalent mental health related sequelae [18-19], followed by alcohol and drug abuse [20-21]. Although it is difficult to establish causal pathways between alcohol abuse and IPV, one study postulated that the use of substances as an outcome of IPV was through PTSD [22]. They suggest that women might use alcohol to cope with specific groups of symptoms associated with PTSD, such as avoidance, hyperarousal and intrusion. However, not all women who use alcohol and experience IPV have a diagnosis of PTSD. University Of Cape Town More research is needed, particularly from developing countries, to elucidate the biological factors that mediate the cycle of alcohol use and violence against women. This may be used to identify vulnerable individuals, and or institute effective interventions. One possible avenue of research is to examine brain structure in women exposed to IPV. The hippocampal formation in the mesial temporal lobe is a sensitive and vulnerable brain region [23]. Several studies have shown that repeated stressful experiences [24] and elevated levels of glucocorticoids [25] can lead to hippocampal structural damage with neuronal loss.
Publisher: University of Cape Town
Year of Publication: 2010
Comment on The Neural correlates of intimate partner violence in women