Psychological and relational correlates of intimate partner violence profiles among pregnant adolescent couples

Abstract

We sought to identify relationship and individual psychological factors that related to four profiles of intimate partner violence (IPV) among pregnant adolescent couples: no IPV, male IPV victim only, female IPV victim only, mutual IPV, and how associations differ by sex. Using data from a longitudinal study of pregnant adolescents and partners (n = 291 couples), we used a multivariate profile analysis using multivariate analysis of covariance with between and within-subjects effects to compare IPV groups and sex on relationship and psychological factors. Analyses were conducted at the couple level, with IPV groups as a between-subjects couple level variable and sex as a within-subjects variable that allowed us to model and compare the outcomes of both partners while controlling for the correlated nature of the data. Analyses controlled for age, race, income, relationship duration, and gestational age. Among couples, 64% had no IPV; 23% male IPV victim only; 7% mutual IPV; 5% female IPV victim only. Relationship (F = 3.61, P < .001) and psychological (F = 3.17, P < .001) factors differed by IPV group, overall. Attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, relationship equity, perceived partner infidelity, depression, stress, and hostility each differed by IPV profile (all P < .01). Attachment anxiety, equity, depression and stress had a significant IPV profile by sex interaction (all P < .05). Couples with mutual IPV had the least healthy relationship and psychological characteristics; couples with no IPV had the healthiest characteristics. Females in mutually violent relationships were at particularly high risk. Couple-level interventions focused on relational issues might protect young families from developing IPV behaviors.

Exploring Relationships: A Systematic Review on Intimate Partner Violence and Attachment

“…Turning to the attachment dimension of avoidance, results are more contrasting with five studies showing associations with IPV victimization (Wekerle and Wolfe, 1998 ; Frey et al, 2011 ; Weiss et al, 2011 ; Shechory, 2013 ; La Flair et al, 2015 ) and others failing to replicate such results (Yarkovsky and Timmons Fritz, 2014 ; Lewis et al, 2017 ; McClure and Parmenter, 2017 ). As for the anxiety dimension, correlational coefficients indicate weak associations between avoidance and IPV victimization, ranging from 0.27 to 0.33.…”

“…For example, some studies have been conducted on couples with men doing military service (Frey et al, 2011 ), on adolescents with intellectual disability (Weiss et al, 2011 ) and on healthcare female workers (La Flair et al, 2015 ). Noteworthy, only two studies recruited participants with a previous reported history of IPV (Shechory, 2013 ; Lewis et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Also, studies showed heterogeneity regarding age of the participants with three studies investigating the topic among adult population (Frey et al, 2011 ; Shechory, 2013 ; La Flair et al, 2015 ), and five studies recruiting young adults or adolescents (Wekerle and Wolfe, 1998 ; Weiss et al, 2011 ; Yarkovsky and Timmons Fritz, 2014 ; Lewis et al, 2017 ; McClure and Parmenter, 2017 ).…”

“…It has to be noted that the sample in this study is particularly small and results are consequently difficult to generalize to the whole population. Supporting the idea that victims of IPV may have high levels of anxious attachment, two studies successfully compared groups of females with a history of IPV with groups of females without previous reported victimization (Shechory, 2013 ; Lewis et al, 2017 ). Both found that females belonging to the IPV group scored higher on the anxious dimension of attachment compared to control participants.…”

Potential Therapeutic Targets in People with Emotional Dependency

“…It is important to point out that a more detailed analysis of psychopathological profiles and problem behaviors associated to ED would point to common underlying factors. A number of studies have shown that significant anxiety or depressive symptomatology underlies addictive behaviors such as Internet and cell phone addiction (Ballarotto, Volpi, Marzilli, & Tambelli, 2018;Caplan, 2007;Ho et al, 2014;Poorakbaran, 2015;Reed et al, 2017;Wiener et al, 2018), and it has been found that partner violence has associated emotional factors and components of impulsivity (Ahmadzad-Asl, Davoudi, Zarei, Mohammad-Sadeghi, & Rasoulian, 2016;Lewis et al, 2017;Shaikh, Pearce, & Yount, 2017). Finally, it has been reported that suicidal behavior may be preceded to a great extent by depression, anxiety, or impulsivity (Najafi, Mamazandi, & Balutbangan, 2017;Palmier-Claus, Taylor, Varese, & Pratt, 2012).…”