Intimate Partner Violence, Cumulative Violence Exposure, and Mental Health Service Use.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) leaves victims with serious mental healthconsequences; some victims do not seek help even though they suffer from adverse mental health symptoms. Victims' use of mental health services seems to be affected by sociocultural factors and their history of experiences with violence. This study used the collaborative psychiatric epidemiology surveys to examine the effects of cumulative violence on IPV victims' mental health service use. The results showed that victims' mental health needs were the most prominent predictor of their use of mental health services, and that cumulative violence exposure also predicted mental health service use.