Abused women are more prone to depression: poll

More than 80 percent of Taiwanese women who are physically abused by their husbands have a tendency toward depression, with one quarter considered to be seriously at risk of committing suicide, according to the results of a survey released on Thursday.

The survey was conducted by the Modern Women's Foundation between October last year and February on 219 female victims of domestic violence who have sought help from the Taipei, Shihlin, Hsinchu, Hualien and Tai-chung District Courts.

The average age of the victims was 39.72, while the period of violence endured by the victims averaged six years, four months and seven days, with the most recent incident of violence occurring 22.58 days before the survey was conducted.

Evaluating the respondents' mental condition with a brief symptom rating scale, the survey found the respondents measured an average score of 12.3, which indicated a moderate emotional disturbance, or a situation requiring psychological counseling.

The survey showed that 35.6 percent of the abused women were severely emotionally disturbed and only 42.9 percent of respondents had never thought of committing suicide.