{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T08:07:15Z","timestamp":1788250035363,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,26]],"date-time":"2026-01-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769385600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012511","name":"Escuela Polit\u00e9cnica Nacional","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012511","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The consequences of violence differ depending on gender. This study explores the associations between exposure to violence and mental health outcomes in Ecuador, a country with high levels of violence yet limited research on its psychological effects. Using a nationally representative dataset and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to reduce confounding bias, we examine gender-specific patterns of psychological outcomes. The analysis reveals that men exposed to violence are significantly more likely to display externalizing behaviors, including a near doubling of alcohol use (+93.6%) and heightened impulsivity, supporting theories of substance-based coping and behavioral dysregulation. In contrast, women exposed to violence show marked increases in internalizing symptoms, including depressive affect (+35.7%), perceived stress, and loneliness, reflecting emotion-focused coping strategies and affective vulnerability. While these findings support established gendered theories of violence, such as the self-medication hypothesis and emotion-focused coping, they must be interpreted with caution. The associations observed reflect robust statistical links rather than definitive causal pathways. It remains possible that pre-existing psychological vulnerabilities or unmeasured third variables contribute to both the likelihood of experiencing violence and subsequent mental health outcomes. The results underscore the importance of gender-sensitive mental health interventions: substance use and impulsivity should be targeted among men, while women\u2019s care must be integrated with social and economic support systems. By focusing on a Latin American context, this study adds to global knowledge on the gendered psychological consequences of violence and highlights the need for longitudinal and interdisciplinary approaches.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2025.1716810","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,26]],"date-time":"2026-01-26T14:38:08Z","timestamp":1769438288000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Beyond violence exposure: gender-specific psychological responses to violence in Ecuador \u2013 a propensity score analysis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Cintya","family":"Lanchimba","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Econom\u00eda Cuantitativa, Escuela Polit\u00e9cnica Nacional","place":["Quito, 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