Socioecological determinants of community resource utilisation among low-income women in Mexico City who experienced male-to-female intimate partner violence

ABSTRACT

Women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) face multiple barriers to seeking help from community resources, but little research has examined the impact of ecological influences on community resource utilisation among women living in low- and middle-income countries. The current study investigated individual-, relationship-, family-, and community-level influences on community resource utilisation among Mexican women experiencing IPV. Using baseline data from 950 women in Mexico City enrolled in a clinic-based randomised controlled trial, multilevel regressions were performed to assess associations between socioecological factors and women’s community resource utilisation. 41.3% women used at least one resource. At the individual-level, every additional resource that women were aware of, was associated with a 20% increase in the total number of resources used (p < .001). Every additional lethal risk factor was associated with a 5% increase in the total number of resources used (p = .004). At the family-level, women who reported having an in-law encourage IPV used 46% more resources (p < .001). At the community-level, stronger supportive norms around community resource utilisation was associated with a 6% increase in the total number of resources (p = .01). These findings suggest the importance of addressing family and community factors in the broader ecological context of Mexican women’s help-seeking behaviours.

KEYWORDS:

• Male-to-female IPV
• community community resource utilisation
• social ecological model

Acknowledgements

The study was funded by an anonymous donor administered by the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program. Based on the stipulations set forth by the donor, we are not permitted to disclose the funder (PI: JG). Partial support was also provided by NIMH to Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (T32MH020031).The funders had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or writing of the report.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health: [grant number T32MH020031].