There has been a long-standing debate regarding whether or not there is gender symmetry in intimate partner violence (IPV); however, shelter samples have been understudied thus far. This study investigates the prevalence and predictors of IPV perpetration in a sample of 227 women in battered women's shelters. Participants were asked to complete a number of measures assessing demographics, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR) diagnoses, traumatic life events, and perpetration and victimization of IPV. Although the vast majority of women in this sample (93%) report perpetrating some form of IPV, few women endorsed violence that was not mutual (5.3%). Furthermore, for every type of IPV assessed, women were victimized significantly more than they perpetrated. Results also indicate that women's perpetration of IPV, and predictors of such perpetration, varied across type, severity, and measurement of violence. However, most IPV outcome variables were predicted by women's experience of victimization. Taken as a whole, these results support the assertion that context matters when examining the relative rates of perpetration as well as its predictors.

Findings emphasize the deleterious effects of SUD, above and beyond MDD and BPD, on IPV-related PTSD and highlight the need for assessment and treatment of SUD and PTSD simultaneously in residents of battered women's shelters. Clinical Impact Statement: Findings suggest the need to go beyond standard shelter services to more effectively address and treat co-occurring SUD-PTSD in IPV survivors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

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