Trends in Family Violence Are Not Causally Associated with COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders: A Commentary
Jennifer M. Reingle Gonzalez1
Rebecca Molsberry1,2
Jonathan Maskaly3
Katelyn K. Jetelina2
1 Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Dallas, TX
2 Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, Dallas, TX
3Department of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, University of Texas Dallas, Richardson, TX
Corresponding Author:
Jennifer Gonzalez, PhD
Senior Director of Population Health
Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
2800 Swiss Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75204
jgonzalez@mmhpi.org
Phone: 908-601-2744
Biosketch es
Dr. Jennifer Gonzalez is the Senior Director of Population Health at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI). She holds an adjunct associate professor appointment at the UTHealth School of Public Health. She earned her doctoral degree in epidemiology and a master’s degree in criminal justice.
Ms. Rebecca Molsberry is a Population Health Analyst at MMHPI and PhD student in epidemiology at UTHealth School of Public Health in Dallas, with a breadth area in injury and violence.
Dr. Jon Maskaly is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of North Dakota.
Dr. Katelyn K. Jetelina is a violence epidemiologist and Assistant Professor at the UTHealth at UTHealth School of Public Health in Dallas, Texas.
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Abstract
COVID-19 has caused a wave of research findings to be published in academic and pre-print outlets which have resulted in several high-profile retractions. Given the need to publish policy- and practice-relevant research swiftly, the peer review process may issue fewer checks and balances compared to those present in non-COVID related scholarly works. This urgency to publish has led to publication of manuscripts with major methodological challenges falling through the cracks. In this perspective, we discuss this issue in light of a recent manuscript by Piquero et al. (2020). In the study, the association between stay-at-home orders and family violence was not statistically significant; however, a 12.5% increase in family violence offenses was widely disseminated by media outlets. The inaccurate dissemination of research findings can have important implications for policy and the virus mitigation efforts, which might urge policymakers to terminate stay-at-home orders in an effort to reduce family violence and other social risk factors. Changes may ultimately result in more COVID-related deaths as stay-at-home orders are prematurely and inappropriately lifted to prevent purported injuries in the home. Therefore, the widespread propagation of these claims in the absence of scientific evidence of an increase has great potential to cause harm.
Key words: Dating violence; family violence; policy; COVID-19