Examining Prospective Associations between COVID-19 Stressors: Preliminary Findings of Dr. Brett J. Peters’ MRI Funded Research

Brett J. Peters, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology and Abriana M. Gresham, Ph.D. Student at Ohio University, have shared preliminary findings of the very interesting longitudinal study that they and their team (Drs. Gery Karantzas, Linda D. Cameron, and Jeffry A. Simpson) conducted, “Examining prospective associations between COVID-19 stressors, IPV, and health behaviors.”

The study had two primary hypotheses. The first was that greater COVID-19 stressors (financial anxiety, social disconnectedness, COVID-19 related health concerns, and perceived COVID-19 stress and impact) would predict increases in interpersonal violence (IPV) victimization over time. The second was that increases in IPV victimization would predict residual increases in movement outside the home and substance abuse and decreases in physical and mental health over time. Measurements were taken at two periods of time, described as Wave 1 and Wave 2.

Preliminary results demonstrated that, overall, IPV victimization remained relatively stable with only a subsample of the participants experiencing changes (either increases or decreases) from their Wave 1 assessments. Thus, a model that closely resembles the original cross-sectional model (presented in Gresham et al., 2021) was tested to evaluate how COVID-19 stressors at Wave 1 predicted IPV victimization at Wave 2, and how IPV victimization at Wave 2 was associated with health and health behaviors at Wave 2.

Results indicate that COVID-19 stressors at Wave 1 predicted greater IPV victimization at Wave 2 and that IPV victimization at Wave 2 was associated with greater movement outside of the home, greater substance use, and worse physical and mental health. The model also evidences that COVID-19 stressors at Wave 1 were predictive of worse physical and mental health at Wave 2 (but not substance use or movement outside of the home).

Overall, the results of their longitudinal and prospective approach replicated their initial, Wave 1 findings and reveal important associations between COVID-19 stress, IPV, and health. Of note, most models of IPV have focused on how stressors predict IPV perpetration instead of victimization. The focus on victimization highlights how stressors that lead to IPV may be shared experiences for both victims and perpetrators and put victims at risk for negative health-related outcomes. Dr. Peters’ team is planning for a third wave of data collection this year to more thoroughly examine the impact of IPV on health and health behaviors over time during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initial Blog Entry: https://mri.org/blog/brett-peters-of-ohio-university-grant-award