Relationship Between Different Types of Violence and Mental Health in Adults from Northern Mexico

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships between different types of violence (social, cyberbullying, partner violence, and child abuse and neglect) and mental health (depression, anxiety, stress, self-esteem, and paranoid thoughts). There were 421 adult participants, 18 years or older, from the cities of Juarez (n = 202), Chihuahua (n = 99), Parral (n = 57), Nuevo Casas Grandes (n = 50), and other (n = 13), located in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The mean age was 37.7 (SD = 12.3) years and 64.8% of the sample reported being females. Mental health variables were measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Perceived Stress Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Paranoid Thoughts due to Social Violence Scale. Types of violence were measured with the Victimization Scale, the Partner Violence Scale, the Child Abuse and Neglect Scale, and the Cyberbullying-Victimization Scale. Pearson correlations and multiple linear regressions were used to analyze the relationship among mental health and violence variables. The main findings show that participants from the different cities have experience social violence such as kidnapping, sexual assault, carjacking, among others. Most correlations were statistically significant; guilt (child abuse) and cyberbullying had the highest correlations with mental health. In the regression analyses, the same variables, guilt and cyberbullying, had the strongest and statistically significant standardized betas with mental health. Our findings indicate that interventions should not be limited to preventing and addressing social violence alone; other forms of violence among adults must also be taken into consideration.