Behavioural outcomes

In the context of family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV), a behavioural outcome may be considered as a change in a victim-survivors’ behaviour that can be attributed to experiences of FDSV. A change in behaviour may be directly, or indirectly attributed to FDSV. For example, trauma due to FDSV can cause behavioural changes (direct), and physical and mental health outcomes associated with FDSV can also influence a victim-survivors’ behaviour (indirect) (see Health outcomes). Therefore, the relationship between FDSV and behavioural outcomes is complex due to the multi-directional relationship between behaviour and physical and mental health.

This topic page focuses on a selection of behavioural outcomes associated with FDSV:

• engaging in risky consumption of alcohol and other drugs (health risk behaviours),
• changes to physical activity, sleep and diet (personal habits and health promoting behaviours)
• difficulties maintaining personal relationships (social interactions and personal relationships
• changes to engagement with employment (employment)
• reduced educational attainment (education).

What do we know?

FDSV can negatively impact social connections and consequently mental and physical health. 

Experiencing FDSV can cause traumatic stress. Trauma is associated with behavioural changes, and these can have an impact on a victim-survivor’s daily routine and lifestyle, relationships, education and employment. Trauma may also cause a range of health-related problems (see Health outcomes). For example, traumatic stress following sexual violence is associated with behavioural changes that can lead to adverse health outcomes, including smoking, high risk alcohol and other drug use and lower levels of physical activity (Bacchus et al. 2018; González-Chica et al. 2019; Miller-Graff et al. 2021; Townsend et al. 2022).

In some cases, experiencing trauma may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is associated with a range of behavioural symptoms such as avoidance of triggers (including people, places or events) and arousal and reactivity (sudden anger, difficulty engaging emotionally, feeling numb, trouble sleeping and startling easily) (NIH 2023).

Social withdrawal and isolation may also be an indirect outcome of violence, as people may find themselves withdrawing from social networks following traumatic and/or violent events. Perpetrators of FDSV may use coercive and controlling behaviours intentionally to isolate victim-survivors from friends, family or support networks (both online or in person) (HRSCSPLA 2021) (see Coercive control). In relation to sexual assault trauma, women may avoid situations that remind them of the incident including locations or people who remind them of the perpetrator, as well as restrict social activities due to the belief that the world is inherently unsafe (Boyd 2011). Social isolation is linked to mental illness, emotional distress, suicide, the development of dementia, premature death, poor health behaviours, smoking, physical inactivity, poor sleep, and biological effects, including high blood pressure and poorer immune function (AIHW 2023). For more information, see Australia’s welfare – Social isolation, loneliness and wellbeing.

For some victim-survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), gambling venues can be safe spaces in which they can escape from or cope with the violence and/or the resulting social isolation. This may increase their risk of developing a gambling problem and contribute to their ongoing victimisation (Hing et al. 2020).

National data sources to measure behavioural outcomes

Evidence on the behavioural outcomes due to or associated with FDSV are available from 2 main national data sources – the ABS Personal Safety Survey and the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. For more information about these data sources, please see Data sources and technical notes.

As behaviours are commonly measured via self-report, these sources are surveys. For more information on how different types of data and research answer questions, see How are national data used to answer questions about FDSV?.

Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health is Australia’s first national longitudinal study that focuses exclusively on male health and wellbeing. Further analysis of the Ten to Men study can provide insights into the health and wellbeing of men who have experienced and/or perpetrated intimate partner violence. For more information about the Ten to Men study, please see the Data sources and technical notes.

What do the data tell us?

Health risk behaviours

The 2021 Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) found associations between adults with self-reported experiences of child maltreatment and six health risk behaviours: cannabis dependence, suicide attempts, non-suicidal self-injury, smoking, binge drinking and obesity. The strongest associations were for current cannabis dependence, recent suicide attempt and recent self-harm (Haslam et al. 2023). See Children and young people and Data sources and technical notes for more information.

Findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women’s Health (ALSWH) indicate that women who have experienced sexual violence may be more likely to engage in smoking, high-risk alcohol consumption and illicit drug use, than women who have not experienced sexual violence (Townsend et al. 2022). When compared with women who had never experienced sexual violence, women who were born from 1989-95 and had experienced sexual violence were:

• 60% more likely to be current smokers
• 30% more likely to have used illicit drugs in the past 12 months.

Similarly, compared with those who had never experienced sexual violence, those who had and were born from 1973-78 were:

• 26% more likely to be current smokers
• 30% more likely to have used illicit drugs in the past 12 months.

There was little association between smoking and sexual violence for those born from 1946-51 and no data reported on illicit drug use in the past 12 months (Townsend et al. 2022).

Women who were born in 1946-51, 1973-78 and 1989-95 and had experienced sexual violence were 16–73% more likely to engage in high-risk alcohol consumption compared with women who had not experienced sexual violence (Townsend et al. 2022).

Personal habits and health promoting behaviours

Some people experience changes to their social/leisure activities, sleeping and eating habits following injury from sexual assault.

Findings from the 2021–22 Personal Safety Survey (PSS) estimated that there were 166,000 women aged 18 years and over who were physically injured in their most recent incident of sexual assault perpetrated by a male in the last 10 years. Of these:

• 38% reported changes to their sleep routine
• 22% reported changes to their eating habits (ABS 2023b).

According to the ALSWH, women who had experienced sexual violence, and were born from 1989-95 and 1973-78 were 3% less likely to report high levels of physical activity compared with those who had not experienced sexual violence (Townsend et al. 2022). There was little association between sexual assault and high levels of physical activity for those born 1946-51.

Social interactions and personal relationships

The 2021–22 PSS shows that among those who had experienced emotional abuse from a previous partner since the age of 15, the proportion who had experienced controlling social behaviours (see Coercive control) was:

• 63% for women
• 56% for men (ABS 2023a).

According to the 2021–22 PSS, after the most recent incident of sexual assault perpetrated by a male in the last 10 years which caused an injury:

• 38% of women aged 18 years and over reported changes to their usual social or leisure activities routine
• 28% reported changes in building and maintaining relationships (ABS 2023b).

Employment

Work life can be disrupted following experiences of FDSV due to avoidance of social situations and feelings of low self-worth and self-doubt (Boyd 2011). Disruption to work and employment can negatively impact support networks, financial stability, and self-worth. Under the National Employment Standards, all employees in Australia are entitled to 10 days of paid FDV leave for full-time, part-time and casual employees. For more information see Economic and financial impacts and Financial support and workplace responses.

Intimate partner violence

The 2021–22 PSS asked women and men who experienced violence from a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15 whether the partner violence resulted in them taking time off work and found that:

• women were more likely to have taken time off work due to violence from a previous partner (23%) than a current partner (12%*)
• about 1 in 4 women (23%) and men (23%*) had taken time off work due to violence from a previous partner (ABS 2023a).

Additional analysis of the 2021–22 PSS indicated that almost 1 in 4 (23%, or an estimated 99,000) women who had experienced partner violence took time off work in the 12 months after the most recent incident of physical violence perpetrated by a male intimate partner in the last 10 years. This includes violence perpetrated by a current partner they were living with, a previous partner they had lived with, a boyfriend/date or ex-boyfriend they had never lived with. 

Of women who had taken time off work: 

• almost 2 in 5 (39%) took less than one week
• just over 1 in 3 (34%) took one week to less than 3 weeks
• around 1 in 4 (26%) took 3 weeks or more (Summers et al. 2025). 

The median number of days away from work following the most recent incident was 7 days* (Summers et al. 2025).

Note that estimates marked with an asterisk (*) should be used with caution as they have a relative standard error between 25% and 50% and that data related to current partner violence for men is not sufficiently statistically reliable for reporting.

In the 2021–22 PSS, of women who had experienced economic abuse by a cohabiting partner since the age of 15 (an estimated 1.6 million), the proportion who reported their partner had controlled or tried to control them from working or earning money was:

• 31% (or an estimated 451,000 women) with regard to the most recent economically abusive previous partner
• 18% (or an estimated 30,700 women) with regard to a current partner (ABS 2023a).

Additional analysis of the 2021–22 PSS indicated that the proportion of women who were employed was lower for those who had experienced physical, sexual, emotional or economic cohabiting partner violence in the last five years when compared with those who had never experienced this violence (76% and 81%, respectively) (Summers 2025).

Findings from a 2022 study published by Monash University provide more detail about how experiences of domestic and family violence (DFV) affect employment (Box 1).

Sexual violence

The 2021–22 PSS found that 1 in 10 (11%) women who had experienced sexual assault perpetrated by a male in the last 10 years, indicated they took time off work in the 12 months after the most recent incident (ABS 2023b).

According to the ALSWH, women born 1989-95 who had ever experienced sexual violence were 7% less likely to have full-time employment than those who had not experienced sexual violence (Townsend et al. 2022). However, women born 1946-51 who had experienced sexual violence were 8% more likely to be employed full-time than those who had not.

Education

Partner violence

In the 2021–22 PSS, of women who had experienced economic abuse by a cohabiting partner since the age of 15, the proportion who reported their partner has controlled or tried to control them from studying was:

• 20% (or an estimated 287,200 women) with regard to a previous partner
• 8.4% (or an estimated 14,600* women) with regard to a current partner (ABS 2023a).

Note that estimates marked with an * have a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

A study using the ALSWH identified more than 1,600 women born 1989–95 who experienced domestic violence from a current or previous partner for the first time between 2014 and 2019 and almost 5,200 women who never experienced this violence. The analysis showed that a lower proportion of women who reported partner violence had attained a university degree when compared with those who had not reported this violence. The difference was:

• 5.2 percentage points in the first year after they experienced violence
• 9.7 percentage points in the three years following the first reported instance of abuse (Summers et al. 2025).

Sexual violence

According to the ALSWH, women born in 1989-95 and 1973-78 who had ever experienced sexual violence were 46-63% less likely to have completed year 12 than those who had not experienced sexual violence (Townsend et al. 2022). Women born from 1989-95 were also 34% less likely to have obtained qualifications beyond year 12. However, women born 1946-51 who had experienced sexual violence were 33% more likely to have attained a qualification beyond year 12 than those who had not experienced sexual violence.