Substantiated Childhood Maltreatment and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization in Young Adulthood: A Birth Cohort Study.
Little is known about the associations between various types of childhood maltreatment and multiple forms of intimate partner violence victimization in early adulthood. This study examines the extent to which childhood experiences of maltreatment increase the risk for intimate partner violence victimization in early adulthood. Data for the present study are from 3322 young adults (55 % female) of the Mater Hospital-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy with the mean age of 20.6 years. The Mater Hospital-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy is a prospective Australian pre-birth cohort study of mothers consecutively recruited during their first antenatal clinic visit at Brisbane's Mater Hospital from 1981 through to 1983. Participants completed the Composite Abuse Scale at 21-year follow-up and linked this dataset to agency recorded substantiated cases of childhood maltreatment. In adjusted models, the odds of reporting emotional intimate partner violence victimization were 1.84, 2.64 and 3.19 times higher in physically abused, neglected and emotionally abused children, respectively. Similarly, the odds of physical intimate partner violence victimization were 1.76, 2.31, 2.74 and 2.76 times higher in those children who had experienced physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse, respectively. Harassment was 1.63 times higher in emotionally abused children. The odds of severe combined abuse were 3.97 and 4.62 times greater for emotionally abused and neglected children, respectively. The strongest associations involved reports of child emotional abuse and neglect and multiple forms of intimate partner violence victimization in young adulthood. Childhood maltreatment is a chronic adversity that is associated with specific and multiple forms of intimate partner violence victimization in adulthood.
School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Public Health Building, Herston, Queensland, 4006, Australia. a.abajobir@uq.edu.au.
Amanuel Alemu
AA
Abajobir
School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, Queensland, 4102, Australia.|Departments of Psychiatry, Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
Steve
S
Kisely
School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Public Health Building, Herston, Queensland, 4006, Australia.
Gail Marilyn
GM
Williams
School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, Queensland, 4102, Australia.
Alexandra Marie
AM
Clavarino
School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Public Health Building, Herston, Queensland, 4006, Australia.|School of Social Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia.|Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Center, The University of Queensland, Herston, Queensland, 4006, Australia.
Jackob Moses
JM
Najman
D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D001315:Australia; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D000066511:Intimate Partner Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012742:Sex Offenses; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D013179:Spouse Abuse; D055815:Young Adult
A birth cohort study; Childhood maltreatment; Intimate partner violence victimization; Substantiation