Frequency and Correlates of Intimate Partner Violence by Type: Physical, Sexual, and Psychological Battering

• NCJ Number: 182739
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health Volume: 90 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2000 Pages: 553-559
• Author(s): Ann L. Coker Ph.D.; Paige H. Smith Ph.D.; Robert E. McKeown Ph.D.; Melissa J King MSPH
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 7 pages
• Grant Number(s): CCR412752
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Free online PDF and HTML access to the American Journal of Public Health is provided by the publisher 24 months after individual issues are released.

Annotation

This article estimates the frequency and correlates of intimate partner violence by type (physical, sexual, battering or emotional abuse) among women seeking primary health care.

Abstract

A study of women aged 18 to 65 years who attended family practice clinics in 1997 and 1998 included a brief in-clinic survey assessing intimate partner violence. The study used multiple polytomous logistic regression to assess correlates of partner violence by type. Of 1,401 eligible women surveyed, 772 (55.1 percent) had experienced some type of intimate partner violence in a current, most recent or past intimate relationship with a male partner and 20.2 percent were currently experiencing intimate partner violence. Among those who had experienced partner violence in any relationship, 77.3 percent experienced physical or sexual violence and 22.7 percent experienced nonphysical abuse. Substance abuse and violence in the woman’s family of origin were the strongest correlates of intimate partner violence, and this was true for all categories of violence, including psychological battering or emotional abuse without physical or sexual violence. Tables, references