Exposure to workplace and domestic violence as differential risk factors for stress and depression

Abstract

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. 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. 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. 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.