Sexual Violence as a Key Predictor of Depressive Symptoms in Women: Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families

The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of violence on depressive symptoms in women. We analyzed panel data from the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families (n = 6,632). Exposure to sexual violence was a significant predictor of the onset of depressive symptoms. After adjusting for all covariates, other predictors included the perception of a poor or very poor health status than normal and participants in their 40s and 50s versus participants younger than 40 years. Assessing exposure to sexual violence might be beneficial for evaluating depressive symptoms in women who are newly diagnosed with depression.