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Victims of IPV have higher social engagement, perceived neighborhood issues

Adults who participated in one or more community groups in the last year and had high perceived neighborhood problems were more likely to have experienced physical intimate partner violence, according to study findings in the American Journal of Community Psychology.

“Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a growing public health problem that can affect both women and men and gaps exist in knowledge with respect to appropriate prevention and treatment strategies. Population estimates of IPV among women worldwide range from 10% to 71% having experienced physical violence and 3% to 59% having experienced sexual violence by a partner,” study researcher Maritt Kirst, PhD, of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, and colleagues wrote.

Maritt Kirst

Researchers assessed associations between IPV and neighborhood characteristics, including economic disadvantage and disorder, and individual neighborhood resources such as social capital among a sample of 2,412 adults living in Toronto.

Overall, 14% of the study cohort experienced non-physical IPV and 8% experienced physical IPV.

Study participants who experienced IPV were younger, never married and had lower education and household income than those who did not experience IPV.

Involvement in at least one community group, such as a sports or religious group, within the past year was a predictor of physical IPV (P = .0007).

However, adults with social networks containing three or more members were less likely to experience IPV than those with smaller networks (OR = 0.67; P = .0346).

“Intimate partner violence can be an exceptionally isolating experience, and many people are unsure where to go for help,” study researcher Patricia O’Campo, PhD, of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, said in a press release. “Some turn to social or church gatherings to overcome their seclusion.”

Patricia O'Campo

Physical IPV was less common among adults with low perceived neighborhood problems (OR = 0.59; P = .0002). Adults living in neighborhoods with higher median income were less likely to report physical IPV (OR = 0.74; P = .0497).

Compared with adults with high group participation and perceived neighborhood problems, adults with low group participation and low perceived neighborhood problems were 0.27 times less likely to experience physical IPV.

“Overall, study findings highlight the importance of examining social capital and contextual characteristics at multiple levels; that is, both social network- and neighborhood-level factors are relevant for different types of IPV,” Kirst and colleagues wrote. “Analyses such as these can inform the development of community-based interventions to address complex social network- and neighborhood-level contextual factors related to IPV.” – by Amanda Oldt

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