Risk factors for intimate partner violence during pregnancy and postpartum
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Risk factors for intimate partner violence during pregnancy and postpartum Julianne C. Hellmuth & Kristina Coop Gordon & Gregory L. Stuart & Todd M. Moore
Received: 31 January 2012 / Accepted: 7 September 2012 / Published online: 30 September 2012 # Springer-Verlag 2012
Abstract This longitudinal investigation examined potential risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) among women during pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum. A sample of 180 pregnant women was collected in order to investigate (1) whether associations between partner alcohol misuse, partner jealousy, partner suspicion of infidelity, and stress were associated with IPV victimization; (2) the indirect effects of alcohol misuse on these relationships; and (3) factors related to changes in IPV victimization over time. At baseline, partner alcohol misuse was associated with each type of IPV victimization and the combination of partner alcohol misuse, partner jealousy, and partner suspicion of infidelity was most strongly associated with severe physical victimization. Partner alcohol misuse mediated the relationship between partner jealousy and psychological and severe physical victimization. At follow-up, partner jealousy and stress were related to women’s psychological victimization and partner alcohol misuse was related to women’s severe physical victimization. Findings suggest that partner alcohol misuse is a risk factor for women’s IPV victimization during pregnancy and jealousy and that stress may increase risk for some types of IPV. Findings also suggest that intervention should target parents early in pregnancy in order to reduce the risk for future IPV. Keywords Intimate partner violence . Pregnancy . Alcohol misuse J. C. Hellmuth (*) Division of Prevention and Community Research and The Consultation Center, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 389 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511, USA e-mail: [email protected] K. C. Gordon : G. L. Stuart : T. M. Moore University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, USA
Introduction Research has identified alarmingly high prevalence rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization in expectant women ranging up to 50 % (Bailey 2010; Bailey and Daugherty 2007; Gazmararian et al. 1996; Sonis and Langer 2008; Taillieu and Brownridge). While these findings are comparable to prevalence rates documented in other U.S. populations such as newlyweds, women with mental health problems, and treatment-seeking samples (Breiding et al. 2008; Golding 1999; Hellmuth and McNulty 2008; Weinsheimer et al. 2005), and comparable to lifetime prevalence rates among community women (Breiding et al. 2008; Thompson et al. 2006), they are higher than that documented among some larger population-based samples (Tjaden and Thonnes 2000). Research indicates that pregnant women who are exposed to IPVare at heightened risk for serious physical, behavioral, and psychological problems including miscarriage, substance use, smoking, depression, and PTSD (Bailey and Daugherty 2007; F
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