The assessment of intimate partner violence in Spanish women: the index of spouse abuse

We aimed to analyze the internal consistency and construct validity of the Spanish version of the Index of Spouse Abuse (ISA) in a representative sample of 8,995 women attending general practice in Spain in 2006-2007. The factor structure analysis shows that the ISA measures four intimate partner violence (IPV) dimensions: emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and controlling behavior. Cronbach alpha ranges from .82 (sexual factor) to .94 (emotional). Construct validity analysis shows that IPV is associated with poorer self-perceived health, higher psychological distress, and lower tangible social support. The ISA can help make more visible forms of gender violence in the intimate relationship that sometimes are not recognized as such, like sexual violence or controlling behavior. This can contribute to the development of specific interventions for women experiencing IPV, considering the specificities of the violent acts experienced.     

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence among Women in Methadone Treatment: A Direct or Mediated Relationship?

Women in substance use treatment report rates of childhood sexual abuse and intimate partner violence that far exceed those reported by women in the general population. Previous research with nonrandom samples of women in substance use treatment suggests that there is a statistically significant relationship between childhood sexual abuse and intimate partner violence; however, little is known about the mechanisms of risk between these two public health concerns among this population of women. To address this gap in knowledge and to inform intervention strategies, this study examined direct and mediated relationships between childhood sexual abuse and intimate partner violence risk among a random sample of 416 women in methadone treatment. In addition to high rates of childhood sexual abuse (57.9%), intimate partner violence (lifetime prevalence, 89.7%; 6-month prevalence, 78.4%), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD, 28.6%), and global psychological distress (19.5%), findings suggest that the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and intimate partner violence is mediated by mental health problems and that women experiencing PTSD or global psychological distress are 2.7 and 2.4 times more likely to experience intimate partner violence than women without such experiences, respectively. Although not a mediator in this relationship, financial independence reduced women's risk of partner violence by two-thirds. The paper includes discussion of social learning and stress and coping theories to explicate the findings and to inform intervention strategies. This study is based, in part, on the first author's dissertation. A previous version of this paper was presented at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference held in January 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The following grants provided funding for this study: R01DA11027 and 3T32MH014623-22S1.     

Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence,Psychopathology, and Functional Impairment in Children and Adolescents: Moderator Effect of Sex and Age

This work examines the moderator effect of sex and age on the relationship between different types of exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and child psychopathology and functional impairment. One hundred and sixty-six Spanish children aged 4 –17 years exposed to intimate partner violence were assessed using a diagnostic interview and other instruments for the measurement of psychopathology and functional impairment. Participants were classified in three groups according to the degree of exposure: witness (N = 77), involved (N = 63) and victim (N = 26). According to mothers’ self-reports and mother-child combined information, boy victims of IPV showed more mood disorders than involved or witness boys. There were no other moderator effects of either sex or age. The effect of exposure to intimate partner violence among children was not dependent, in general, on the child’s sex or age, and this has important implications for the assessment, treatment, and prevention of children’s exposure to IPV.     

Violent Acts and Injurious Consequences: An Examination of Competing Hypotheses About Intimate Partner Violence Using Agency-Based Data

The current study proposed and tested a series of competing hypotheses about intimate partner violence in the 2006 National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), a dataset of criminal incidents known to the police. Three research questions were presented concerning gender differences in victim identity, victim-offender relationships, and victim injury with hypotheses derived from the feminist, family violence, and general violence perspectives. Victim-based analyses were consistent primarily with expectations of the feminist perspective, although aspects of the general violence perspective were supported as well: Women were more likely than men to experience violence from an intimate; they were more likely to experience violence from an intimate partner than from any other perpetrator; and when victimized by an intimate, women were usually more likely to be injured. These results highlight the uniqueness of violence between intimates relative to other types of violence.     

The role of adolescent physical abuse in adult intimate partner violence

This study's primary aims were to examine whether a sample of young adults, aged 23 to 31, who had been documented as physically abused by their parent(s) during adolescence would be more likely to aggress, both physically and verbally, against their intimate partners compared with nonabused young adults and whether abuse history was (along with other risk factors) a significant predictor of intimate partner physical and emotional violence perpetration or victimization. In this longitudinal study, 67 abused and 78 nonabused adults (of an original sample of 198 adolescents) completed the Modified Conflict Tactics Scale and the Jealousy and Emotional Control Scales. Nonabused comparison adolescents were matched for age, gender, and community income. As adults, participants with abuse histories had significantly higher rates of intimate partner physical violence and verbal aggression than did comparison participants. Multivariate logistic regressions indicated that adults with histories of physical abuse were more than twice as likely to be physically violent and almost six times more likely to be verbally aggressive to their intimate partners than were comparison participants. Having had an alcohol use disorder, being married to or living with a partner, and perceiving one's partner as controlling were also significantly associated with physical violence. Jealousy and feeling controlled by one's partner were also significant predictors of verbal aggression. These findings underscore the importance of preventing adolescent abuse as a means of decreasing the incidence of intimate partner physical violence in adulthood.     

Adult attachment as a risk factor for intimate partner violence: the "mispairing" of partners' attachment styles

This study examined the relationship between intimate partner violence and adult attachment in a sample of 70 couples. The attachment style of each partner and the interaction of the partners' attachment styles were examined as predictors of intimate partner violence. Additional analyses were conducted to examine violence reciprocity and to explore differences in the relationship between attachment and violence using continuous and dichotomous violence measures. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated the "mispairing" of an avoidant male partner with an anxious female partner was associated with both male and female violence. When controlling for partner violence, the relationship between attachment and violence was significant for males only. In addition, analyses using a dichotomized violence variable produced different results from analyses using a continuous violence measure. Clinical implications include focusing on the discrepancy between partners' needs for intimacy and distance within the couple as a strategy for treating intimate partner violence.     

Intimate Partner Violence Among Hispanics: A Review of the Literature

This paper analyzed the existing literature on risk and protective factors for intimate partner violence among Hispanics using the four-level social-ecological model of prevention. Three popular search engines, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Google Scholar, were reviewed for original research articles published since the year 2000 that specifically examined factors associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) among Hispanics. Factors related to perpetration and victimization for both males and females were reviewed. Conflicting findings related to IPV risk and protective factors were noted; however, there were some key factors consistently shown to be related to violence in intimate relationships that can be targeted through prevention efforts. Future implications for ecologically-informed research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

The relationship between marijuana use and intimate partner violence in a nationally representative, longitudinal sample

Intimate partner violence is a significant public health problem, as these behaviors have been associated with a number of negative health outcomes including illicit drug use, physical injury, chronic pain, sexually transmitted diseases, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. The current study examined the association between marijuana use and intimate partner violence using a longitudinal survey of adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 26 years. Data were obtained from 9,421 adolescents in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) Waves 1 through 4 (1995-2008). Marijuana use was measured in the past year at each wave and participants were categorized as "users" or "nonusers." Partner violence was constructed using six items (three pertaining to victimization and three concerning perpetration) from Wave 4 (2007-2008). Using these six items, participants were categorized as "victims only," "perpetrators only," or "victims and perpetrators." Survey multinomial regression was used to examine the relationship between marijuana use and intimate partner violence. Consistent use of marijuana during adolescence was most predictive of intimate partner violence (OR = 2.08, p < .001). Consistent marijuana use (OR = 1.85, p < .05) was related to an increased risk of intimate partner violence perpetration. Adolescent marijuana use, particularly consistent use throughout adolescence, is associated with perpetration or both perpetration of and victimization by intimate partner violence in early adulthood. These findings have implications for intimate partner violence prevention efforts, as marijuana use should be considered as a target of early intimate partner violence intervention and treatment programming.     

Profile of Men Who Are Victims of Physical Violence by an Intimate Partner

The objective of this study was to characterize the profile of men who are victims of interpersonal physical violence (IPV) by an intimate partner. This study is a retrospective analysis of suspected cases of male victims of IPV by an intimate partner, aged 18 years or older, treated at a Forensic Medicine and Dentistry Center in Brazil. Sociodemographic variables of the victims, the types of violence and the patterns of injuries were evaluated. Over this period, 1520 suspected victims of IPV by an intimate partner were examined; 14.6 % (n = 222) of them were men. Based on Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) two dimensions were formed: the first dimension (internal reliability = 0613) was primarily formed by the relationship between aggressor and victim, the marital status and the type of IPV, and the second dimension (reliability = 0509) by the day of week, the period of day and the marital status.     

Personality Profiles in Abused Women Receiving Psychotherapy According to the Existence of Childhood Abuse

This study explores the personality profiles and the influence of childhood abuse on personality profiles of a group of 142 female victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) who attended a specialized, free care, public outpatient psychological care service in Spain. Characteristics of the abuse were obtained through a semi-structured interview, and personality profiles were assessed using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (Millon, 1983/1999), validated for the Spanish population. Results revealed that most of the women showed elevations on the basic personality scales, especially on the Dependent, Avoidant, Self-defeating, and Compulsive scales. Women who suffered childhood abuse presented greater elevations in Avoidant, Antisocial, Passive-Aggressive, Self-defeating, and Borderline scales. The importance of studying the effects of violence in intimate relationships in order to analyze prevention and intervention strategies is discussed.     

Partner Violence Entrapment Scale: Development and Psychometric Testing

This article describes the development and testing of the psychometric properties of the Partner Violence Entrapment Scale (PVES), an instrument that evaluates the women’s perceived reasons for staying in violent partner relationships. After initial pilot testing, the scale was administered to 213 Spanish women who were victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). An exploratory factor analysis identified six factors: Socio-Economic Problems, Attachment and Fear of Loneliness, Blaming Oneself and Resignation, Impact on Children, Fear of Harm and Worry for the Partner, and Feelings of Confusion. Discriminant validity was established by demonstrating associations between PVES factors and socio-demographic, clinical and abuse variables. The scale appears to be a useful assessment tool for social and clinical settings. Its factor structure, reliability, and validity need to be replicated in other populations and samples.     

Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence in Thailand

There is no recent national data on the prevalence of intimate partner violence in Thailand. This study proposed to examine the prevalence of intimate partner violence in 4 regions of Thailand by using a standardized questionnaire from the WHO multi country study on women’s health and domestic violence. Two thousand four hundred and sixty-two married or cohabiting women aged 20–59 years were interviewed about their experiences of psychologically, physically, sexually violent, and/or controlling behaviors by their male partners. The study found that 15% of respondents had experienced psychological, physical, and/or sexual violence in their life time which suggests that 1 in 6 of Thai women have faced intimate partner violence. Of the 15% of women who reported intimate partner violence within the past 12 months, psychological violence was the most common (60–68%), followed by sexual violence (62–63%) and physical violence (52–65%). In addition, the percentage of women who faced various forms of controlling behaviors varied from 4.6% to 29.3%. Men who were more controlling were more likely to abuse their female partners. The results reveal that partner violence against women is a significant public health issue in Thai society that must be addressed.     

A test of social learning and intergenerational transmission among batterers

This research examined the direct and indirect transmission of family-of-origin violence among a sample of male domestic violence offenders. Intergenerational transmission of violence was tested by examining the effects of childhood corporal punishment experiences and witnessing inter-parental physical violence on the odds of reporting minor and severe intimate partner violence perpetration in adulthood. Social learning mechanisms were applied to examine the relationship between abuse experiences and the incidence of minor and severe forms of intimate partner violence. Use of a sample of 204 male domestic batterers attending court-mandated family violence intervention programs in an urban setting revealed considerable variation in minor and severe intimate partner violence. Results from logistic regression models suggested intergenerational transmission and social learning provided distinct mechanisms for both minor and severe forms of intimate partner violence.     

Examining an Extension of Johnson’s Hypothesis: Is Male Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence More Underreported than Female Violence?

This paper examines two hypotheses about under-reporting in intimate partner violence data. The first hypothesis holds that significant amounts of under-reporting of intimate partner violence occur due to stigma. The second examines the empirical evidence behind Johnson’s (Journal of Marriage and the Family 57:238–294, 1995) contention that controversial findings of equal rates of intimate partner violence perpetration among men and women occur through a combination of heterogeneity in type of intimate partner violence and missing data. E.M. and Data Augmentation are used to correct for item non-response in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Strong support is found for general under-reporting; weak support is found for greater under-reporting of male violence.     

Intimate Partner Violence in Extremely Poor Women: Longitudinal Patterns and Risk Markers

Despite high revalence rates of intimate partner violence in the lives of extremely poor women with dependent children, few studies have investigated the patterns of violence that occur over time, and the characteristics of women that serve as risk markers for partner violence. This paper describes patterns of domestic violence longitudinally and uses multivariate analyses to delineate childhood and adult risk markers for recent intimate partner violence in this population of women. Analyses draw upon a sample of 436 homeless and extremely poor housed mothers receiving welfare, in a mid-sized city in Massachusetts with a large Hispanic population of Puerto Rican descent and relatively fewer Blacks. We found that among women with complete longitudinal data (N=280), almost two-thirds experienced intimate partner violence at some point during their adult life by the end of study follow-up, and that the abuse before and after the baseline interview was episodic and limited over time. To examine the role of individual women's factors, while controlling for partner characteristics, we used baseline data on women who had been partnered during the past year (N=336). Among childhood predictors, we found that sexual molestation contributed most significantly to adult intimate partner violence that occurred during the past year prior to the baseline interview. Adult risk markers included inadequate emotional support from non-professionals, poor self-esteem, and a partner with substance abuse problems. Having a partner with poor work history was another independent predictor of recent abuse. Ethnicity did not significantly predict whether women were abused or not during the past year, contrary to other findings reported in the literature.     

The distribution of and factors associated with intimate terrorism and situational couple violence among a population-based sample of urban women in the United States

It has been proposed that two distinct forms of intimate partner violence exist: intimate terrorism and situational couple violence. This article describes the distribution of factors that characterize intimate terrorism and situational couple violence, including controlling behaviors, violence escalation, and injury, among a representative sample of 331 physically assaulted women living in 11 North American cities. In addition, respondent, partner, and relationship characteristics associated with each form of violence are identified. Most women who experienced physical assault also experienced controlling behavior by their male partner. In multivariate analyses, respondent's young age, violence escalation in the relationship, partner's access to guns, previous arrests for domestic violence offenses, poor mental health, and previous suicide attempts or threats were associated with intimate terrorism, defined as experiencing one or more controlling behaviors. These results suggest that situational couple violence is rare and that moderate and high levels of controlling behaviors are associated primarily with partner factors.     

Understanding Gender Symmetry within an Expanded Partner Violence Typology

Controversies persist regarding the pervasiveness of gender symmetrical patterns of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration even as IPV research has proliferated. Johnson’s typology accounts for gender symmetrical and asymmetrical patterns of partner violence; unfortunately this framework has been poorly integrated into our research methods resulting in a fragmented knowledgebase. The original typology can be expanded to account for patterns of control absent of physical violence at the dyadic level. Measures based upon an expanded typology will allow us to better explore the theoretical underpinnings of gender symmetry in partner violence categories, and facilitate category-specific intervention development.     

Reconceptualizing and operationalizing context in survey research on intimate partner violence

Survey research in the field of intimate partner violence is notably lacking in its attention to contextual factors. Early measures of intimate partner violence focused on simple counts of behaviors, yet attention to broader contextual factors remains limited. Contextual factors not only shape what behaviors are defined as intimate partner violence but also influence the ways women respond to victimization, the resources available to them, and the environments in which they cope with abuse. This article advances methods for reconceptualizing and operationalizing contextual factors salient to the measurement of intimate partner violence. The analytic focus of the discussion is on five dimensions of the social context: the situational context, the social construction of meaning by the survivor, cultural and historical contexts, and the context of systemic oppression. The authors consider how each dimension matters in the measurement of intimate partner violence and offer recommendations for systematically assessing these contextual factors in future research.     

Exposure to Family Violence in Childhood and Intimate Partner Perpetration or Victimization in Adulthood: Exploring Intergenerational Transmission in Urban Thailand

Investigators who study intimate partner violence have long recognized a relationship between exposure to violence in the family of origin and subsequent offending and victimization in the family context. This relationship holds not only for direct exposure (i.e., experiencing violence), but also for indirect exposure (i.e., witnessing violence against a parent or sibling). Typically, this relationship has been attributed to a social learning process that results in the intergenerational transmission of family violence. In this study, we explore intergenerational transmission in a sample of 816 married women in Bangkok, Thailand to determine how childhood exposure to violence in the family of origin is related to intimate partner perpetration and victimization during adulthood. Our results show that there are indeed long-term and significant effects of childhood exposure to family violence on the likelihood of Thai women’s psychological and physical intimate partner perpetration. However, these effects appear to be indirect. Additionally, our results demonstrate a direct association between childhood exposure to parental intimate partner violence and subsequent psychological and physical victimization in adulthood.