The Stress of Motherhood and Intimate Partner Violence during Emerging Adulthood

• NCJ Number: 307634
• Journal: Emerging Adulthood Volume: 10 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2022 Pages: 1204-1215
• Author(s): Sue P. Nash; Eric E. Sevareid; Monica A. Longmore; Wendy D. Manning; Peggy C. Giordano
• Date Published: October 2022
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2009-IJ-CX-0503; 2010-MU-MU-0031
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)

Annotation

This study of motherhood and intimate partner violence (IPV) found that mothers compared with nonmothers reported more IPV.

Abstract

This study found that mothers with multiple children compared with nonmothers reported more instances of relationship violence and that women in dating relationships with one child compared to non-mothers reported substantially more physical violence. These findings underscore the nature of stress and motherhood during emerging adulthood and the need for intervention strategies that target new mothers. Using negative binomial regression models and drawing on the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n = 492), and the stress process framework, the authors compared emerging adult mothers’ (mothers with one child and mothers with multiple children) and non-mothers’ reports of physical violence. Intimate partner violence is a serious social and public health problem for women. Researchers have shown the context in which intimate partner violence occurs matters, yet, prior work has not examined specifically whether motherhood, and the relationship context of motherhood, are associated with physical violence. (Published Abstract Provided)