Understanding the relationship between crime victimisation and mental health: A longitudinal analysis of population data

Abstract

Aim To determine whether a change in crime victimisation status (from non-victim to victim) affects mental health. Method Fixed effects models were used to examine the effect of physical violence and property crime victimisation in the past year on future mental health. The sample pooled 110,671 records from 16,187 persons aged 15 years or older who participated in at least two waves of the Australian Household, Income and Labour Dynamics (HILDA) survey between 2002 and 2011. The analysis controlled for all time-stable factors as well as a wide range of dynamic variables known to be associated with mental health (i.e., general health, partner status, area of residence, labour force status, financial prosperity, alcohol consumption, smoking status, physical activity, social networks and number of life events). Results The analysis revealed that becoming a victim of violent crime results in a decrease in mental health. Females had a more pronounced decline in mental health after becoming a victim of violence compared with males. By contrast, there was no evidence that becoming a victim of property crime has a detectable impact on mental health for females or males. Conclusion Being a victim of violent crime has an adverse effect on mental health. This effect is apparent for both male and female victims, however there is a greater effect of violent crime on women’s mental health.