Profiles of Intimate Partner Violence Victimization: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Person-centered approaches, such as latent class analysis (LCA) and latent profile analysis (LPA), aid the identification of subgroups within sample populations. These methods can identify the patterns of co-occurrence between different forms of intimate partner violence (IPV), providing valuable information for prevention and intervention efforts. The aim of this systematic review was to yield a summary and conduct a critical evaluation of the current research that utilizes LCA/LPA to investigate IPV victimization profiles. We provide an outline of 14 relevant studies, retrieved from searches conducted on PsycInfo, Scopus, and Eric databases. There was a large amount of variability in relation to the forms of IPV assessed, measures utilized, number of classes identified, and the sample populations recruited. However, broad similarities were revealed as there were some commonly identified classes, including the no/low violence class, the physical and psychological victimization class, and the multiple victimization class, yet the labels assigned to those classes differed across studies. A range of external criteria (risk factors and consequences) were also identified as being associated with class membership. We highlight the methodological features which may have impacted data collection and class enumeration, including the differences in sample population, the range of IPV indicators assessed, the time period from which IPV data were recorded, and whether data were collected regarding participants’ current or previous relationships. Marginalized populations were underrepresented, and psychological abuse was most inconsistently operationalized. Recommendations for future research are provided, including recommendations with regard to labeling the classes for greater consistency across studies.

Mental health outcomes of physical, sexual, and psychological intimate partner violence among women in Turkey: A latent class study

“…However, the latter finding seems to be inconsistent with previous research (Hall et al, 2022;Lagdon et al, 2023). One possible explanation could be cultural norms.…”

“…In parallel with our results, studies have shown that women who experienced severe and multiple forms of violence from their partners reported negative mental health outcomes (Ansara & Hindin, 2010;Armour & Sleath, 2014;Sipsma et al, 2015;Young-Wolff et al, 2013). However, while the vast majority of the prior studies have examined depression as a poor mental health sign (Clark et al, 2019;Hall et al, 2022;Weiss et al, 2017), our findings suggest the associated mental health outcomes may be broader. In other words, we contribute to the results suggesting that when survivor women experience multiple forms of IPV, it may increase their vulnerability to developing severe depression, anxiety, and somatization.…”

“…In congruence with prior research, women in the other three distinct patterns, which illustrate the co‐occurrence of psychological IPV with other forms, are more likely to report poor mental health compared with women in the no or low violence and psychological violence classes (Hall et al, 2022; Lagdon et al, 2023). Furthermore, survivor women in the high psychological violence class reported significantly higher levels of depression and somatization, but a lower level of anxiety compared to women in the low or no violence class.…”

“…Furthermore, survivor women in the high psychological violence class reported significantly higher levels of depression and somatization, but a lower level of anxiety compared to women in the low or no violence class. However, the latter finding seems to be inconsistent with previous research (Hall et al, 2022; Lagdon et al, 2023). One possible explanation could be cultural norms.…”

“…Our results yielded a five-class model, which aligns with prior research that attempted to identify IPV classes experienced by survivor women within a range of 4-6 (e.g., Armour & Sleath, 2014;Clark et al, 2019;Kelmendi & Konjufca, 2023;Leyton, 2020). We found a class characterized by multiple forms of severe IPVs, in addition to no or low violence class, complementing the vast majority of studies conducted in WEIRD contexts (Ansara & Hindin, 2010;Cale et al, 2017;Hall et al, 2022;Herbert et al, 2023;Lagdon et al, 2023). Additionally, we found a single form of IPV class (i.e., high psychological violence) in line with the previous research (Clark et al, 2019;Hall et al, 2022;Herbert et al, 2023;Kelmendi & Konjufca, 2023).…”