Perceived changes in the frequency of emotional abuse before and during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic

to retrospectively investigate the perceived changes in the frequency of emotional abuse before and during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary data from research project survey of the Work package No. 2 “Associated factors and changes in psychological resilience, mental health in the general population of Latvia during and following the COVID-19 pandemic and directions for future management”, consisted of 27 thematic sections, and for the purpose of this study -specific items regarding demographics (gender, age, education, marital status), and domestic violence (10 items) were used in data analysis. The sample included 1701 participants, aged 18 – 74 (M = 46.79, SD = 13.09, 44% male), 32% of whom reported having experienced emotional violence during the first wave of COVID-19. Only participants that noted that they either are married or in a relationship and living together were included in data analysis. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated differences between experiencing emotional abuse a month before COVID-19 related emergency state onset and during the emergency state (z = -2.44, p = .015), showing a slight increase in emotional abuse (M = .04, SD = .93). Additional analysis indicated that differences were present in only two age groups – 26 – 35 (z = -2.11, p = .035) and 36 – 45 (z = -2.13, p = .033). The study revealed that the perceived frequency of emotional abuse differed slightly depending on the timeline of COVID-19 pandemic. This was especially notable in the young adult and adult age groups. This study was conducted under project No. VPP-COVID-2020/1-0013 in collaboration with project No. VPP-COVID-2020/1-0011.