Intimate Partner Violence Among a Cohort of Maltreated Youth and Comparison Group

Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a serious problem in youth putting them at increased risk for long-term negative outcomes including injury, depression, suicidal ideation and substance abuse.  Childhood maltreatment has consistently been identified as one of the risk factors for later life IPV. Previous research confirms that the youth involved in the child welfare system have diverse experiences. There is some evidence that different types of maltreatment have different effects related to IPV. The current study utilized prospective, longitudinal data from a sample of maltreated youth recruited from child welfare services as well as youth in a comparison sample from the same neighborhoods to assess whether the presence of maltreatment predicts experience of youth IPV in late adolescence/early adulthood. 

Method: The study used prospective data and all youth were evaluated on several types of IPV including relational, sexual, threatening and physical victimization and perpetration by self-report. Study participants included 184 maltreated youth and 99 non-maltreated youth aged 15 to 23.  Multivariable logistic regressions were used to predict the experience of physical IPV looking across different forms of maltreatment. Due to high rates of co-occurrence for different types of maltreatment, categorical variables were created to compare those who experienced a particular type of maltreatment, versus youth who did not experience that type, including comparison youth.

Results:Results showed that maltreated and comparison youth experienced similar rates of IPV victimization and perpetration across all types. Multivariable regression results revealed that the presence of physical abuse doubled the likelihood of reporting physical IPV perpetration. The presence of emotional abuse was significantly associated with a decrease in odds of reporting physical IPV victimization or perpetration. Being older, female, black or Latino significantly increased the odds of experiencing physical IPV victimization. Black youth had greater odds of physical IPV perpetration.

Discussion: These results demonstrate that IPV is pervasive amongst this youth sample and the experience of certain types of childhood maltreatment is related to later life IPV experience. The experience of physical abuse increased the likelihood of perpetrating IPV during adolescence, which is consistent with many findings that support the intergenerational transmission of violence.  Contrary to previous findings, the experience of emotional abuse was actually a protective factor within our multivariable modes. Not only does this further highlight the diversity in maltreatment experiences and the need to closely examine the specific forms of maltreatment in relation to IPV, it provides new questions in this linkage. Overall, these results suggest that addressing maltreatment during childhood will reduce IPV in later life and  demonstrate the need for comprehensive interventions to prioritize future research in this field to inform policies and programs that can address the specific needs of this population.