The Gendered Pathways Through Which Intimate Partner Violence Affects Health: Exploring the Role of Unmet Healthcare Needs

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between intimate partner violence (IPV), gender, unmet healthcare needs, and health. Specifically, this study identified how unmet healthcare needs mediate the relationship between IPV and health, and how this mediation is moderated by gender. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) (N = 15,425), we first estimated ordinary least squares regression models to investigate the association between IPV and self-rated health. Then, we used structural equation models to examine how unmet healthcare needs mediate this relationship. Lastly, we conducted a moderated mediation model to investigate whether gender moderates these mediation patterns. The results of this study showed that experiencing IPV was associated with a decrease in self-rated health and an increase in the unmet need for medical care (but not in unmet need for routine health check-ups). Unmet need for medical care explained about one-quarter of the negative association between IPV and self-rated health. A moderated mediation model revealed that indirect effects of IPV on health via unmet medical care needs were more pronounced among victimized women than victimized men. This study filled knowledge gaps about the mechanisms underlying the association between IPV and poor health status. Unmet healthcare needs partially mediated the relationship between IPV victimization and health. This mechanism was more salient for the health of victimized women than victimized men. Interventions designed to improve the health of IPV victims may focus on addressing unmet healthcare needs and could be tailored according to the gender of patients.