Exposure to workplace and domestic violence as differential risk factors for stress and depression.
- 1Departamento de Economía Cuantitativa, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ladrón de Guevara, E11-253, Quito, Ecuador. [email protected].
- 2Département de Psychologie UR 1901 QualiPsy "Qualité de vie et santé psychologique", Université de Tours, Tours, 37041, Cedex 1, France. [email protected].
- 3Département de Psychologie UR 1901 QualiPsy "Qualité de vie et santé psychologique", Université de Tours, Tours, 37041, Cedex 1, France.
Abstract
Background
Exposure to interpersonal violence is a well-established determinant of poor mental health. However, violence often occurs across multiple life domains rather than in isolation, and its psychological consequences may differ depending on the context and outcome considered. This study adopts a multicontextual clinical perspective to examine the associations between exposure to workplace violence, intimate partner violence, and domestic violence, and two related but distinct mental health outcomes: perceived stress and depressive symptoms.Methods
Data were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of Ecuadorian adults (N = 686). Perceived stress was analyzed using generalized linear models with a Gamma distribution to account for skewness, while depressive symptoms were examined using robust regression models to address non-normality and the presence of extreme values. Multivariate models included sociodemographic controls and interaction terms to assess gender differences and the co-occurrence of violence across contexts.Results
Exposure to workplace violence was significantly associated with higher levels of perceived stress and depressive symptoms, with a stronger association observed for depression. Domestic violence emerged as the most robust predictor of depressive symptoms and was also significantly related to perceived stress. In contrast, intimate partner violence was not significantly associated with either outcome in multivariate analyses. Importantly, the co-occurrence of domestic and workplace violence was associated with markedly higher levels of depressive symptoms, exceeding the effects of each form of violence considered separately, consistent with a vulnerability accumulation model. Women reported higher overall levels of stress and depressive symptoms, although gender interactions varied across violence contexts.Conclusions
These findings underscore the importance of conceptualizing interpersonal violence as a multicontextual phenomenon and of distinguishing between stress and depression when assessing violence-related psychological distress. Cumulative exposure to violence across private and occupational settings appears to be a critical marker of heightened vulnerability to depressive symptomatology, with important implications for clinical assessment, prevention strategies, and public health interventions.
Related
- Workplace Violence Against Nurses—A Crisis in the Emergency Department
- Association between workplace violence and harassment and hypertension-related outcomes: a scoping review
- A Mixed Methods Evaluation of a Model of Care for Domestic Violence Within the Emergency Department
- Domestic violence and associated factors among ever-married women in Assam based on the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–21)
- Domestic Gender-Based Violence and Sexual and Reproductive Health-Seeking Behavior Among Women in Lusaaze Informal Settlement, Kampala, Uganda
BibTeX
@article{lanchimba2026exposure,
title = {{Exposure to workplace and domestic violence as differential risk factors for stress and depression.}},
author = {Cintya Lanchimba and Robert Courtois},
journal = {BMC public health},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12889-026-29048-8},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/43009926},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Exposure to workplace and domestic violence as differential risk factors for stress and depression.
AU - Cintya Lanchimba
AU - Robert Courtois
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/14
JO - BMC public health
DO - 10.1186/s12889-026-29048-8
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/43009926
AB - Background Exposure to interpersonal violence is a well-established determinant of poor mental health. However, violence often occurs across multiple life domains rather than in isolation, and its psychological consequences may differ depending on the context and outcome considered. This study adopts a multicontextual clinical perspective to examine the associations between exposure to workplace violence, intimate partner violence, and domestic violence, and two related but distinct mental health outcomes: perceived stress and depressive symptoms.Methods Data were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of Ecuadorian adults (N = 686). Perceived stress was analyzed using generalized linear models with a Gamma distribution to account for skewness, while depressive symptoms were examined using robust regression models to address non-normality and the presence of extreme values. Multivariate models included sociodemographic controls and interaction terms to assess gender differences and the co-occurrence of violence across contexts.Results Exposure to workplace violence was significantly associated with higher levels of perceived stress and depressive symptoms, with a stronger association observed for depression. Domestic violence emerged as the most robust predictor of depressive symptoms and was also significantly related to perceived stress. In contrast, intimate partner violence was not significantly associated with either outcome in multivariate analyses. Importantly, the co-occurrence of domestic and workplace violence was associated with markedly higher levels of depressive symptoms, exceeding the effects of each form of violence considered separately, consistent with a vulnerability accumulation model. Women reported higher overall levels of stress and depressive symptoms, although gender interactions varied across violence contexts.Conclusions These findings underscore the importance of conceptualizing interpersonal violence as a multicontextual phenomenon and of distinguishing between stress and depression when assessing violence-related psychological distress. Cumulative exposure to violence across private and occupational settings appears to be a critical marker of heightened vulnerability to depressive symptomatology, with important implications for clinical assessment, prevention strategies, and public health interventions.
SN - 1471-2458
ER -