Classes of Intimate Partner Violence From Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood

Abstract

Researchers do not agree on how intimate partner violence (IPV) emerges and changes from adolescence to young adulthood. This may be because change in these behaviors varies across individuals. The present study uses a longitudinal, person-centered approach to examine whether there are multiple classes or patterns of change in the perpetration of IPV during the transitional period from adolescence (age 18) to young adulthood (age 25) using data collected annually from a community sample of 484 participants. Latent class analysis was the analytic approach used. Results revealed three patterns for psychological IPV (Little-to-None, Minor/Increasing, and Extensive/Increasing) and two patterns for physical IPV (Little-to-None and Extensive). Patterns varied greatly in number of representatives, although they were more balanced in size for psychological than physical IPV. Variations in IPV behaviors were also revealed across classes, although as expected in a community sample, minor forms of IPV were more common than severe forms. In addition, classes differed in demographic and relationship status variables. These findings suggest that IPV may occur in multiple distinct patterns as opposed to one average pattern across a population. This suggests that interventions for IPV may need to be geared to differences in patterns to enhance their efficacy.

Predicting Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration From Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood

“…Previous studies hinted at the possibility of diversity in the expression of IPV over time across a sample/population (Capaldi et al, 2003;Foshee et al, 2009;Fritz & O'Leary, 2004;Fritz & Slep, 2009;Kim et al, 2008;Nocentini et al, 2010;O'Leary & Slep, 2003;Orpinas et al, 2013;Orpinas et al, 2012;Swartout et al, 2012). Saint-Eloi Cadely et al (2020) explored this diversity with a person-centered approach and identified multiple patterns of IPV across an 8-year period from ages 18 to 25. This approach classified individuals into different subgroups by minimizing differences within groups and maximizing differences between them (Swartout et al, 2011).…”

“…Therefore, IPV classes reflected patterns in the usage of psychological and physical IPV over time. Details pertaining to the assessment of IPV utilized in the classification are available in Saint-Eloi Cadely et al (2020).…”

“…These pattern discrepancies across studies suggest that change in IPV may not described with a single prototype across a population, but rather as an assortment of patterns. Recently, Saint-Eloi Cadely et al (2017) tested this hypothesis among a sample of adolescents as they were transitioning from late adolescence (age 18) to young adulthood (age 25), using a person-centered methodology known as latent class analysis. One of the many benefits of a person-centered methodology is that it allows for the clustering of individuals into patterns or “classes” that maximize within-class similarity and between-class differences on defining factors (Swartout, Swartout, & White, 2011).…”

“…In keeping with this analytic goal, the current investigation treated the class memberships derived by Saint-Eloi Cadely et al (2020) as categorical dependent variables, one for each type of IPV (three categories for psychological IPV and two for physical IPV), and sought to differentiate the categories of each dependent variable using the following four theory-based explanatory variables: (a) interparental aggression (social-learning theory; Fite et al, 2008; Hare, Miga, & Allen, 2009), (b) social-information processing biases (SIP; Fite et al, 2008; Lansford et al, 2006), (c) preoccupied and fearful forms of relationship insecurities (attachment theory; Grych & Kinsfogel, 2010; Henderson, Bartholomew, Trinke, & Kwong, 2005), and (d) discontinuity in relationship partner (systems theory; Capaldi et al, 2003; Fritz & Slep, 2009). The four theories from which these variables derive have contributed to current understanding of the occurrence of IPV, but it is rare for variables derived from different theoretical traditions to be included in an explanatory analysis.…”

Tipologías basadas en la adhesión a los mitos sobre la violencia de género: Evidencias de un análisis de clases latentes

“…Para ello, se aplicó un análisis de clases latentes (ACL), una técnica de interdependencia poco empleada en el ámbito de estudio de la violencia contra las mujeres (vid. Ansara y Hindin 2010; Parker et al 2016;Saint-Eloy et al 2017) y de la cual no se tiene constancia de que haya sido aplicada al estudio de los mitos sobre la violencia de género, lo que supone una novedad de esta investigación. Partiendo de la interdependencia de estos mitos y creencias (Bosch y Ferrer 2012; Policastro y Payne 2013), el ACL permite explorar los patrones de adhesión a través de la identificación de clases que más tarde serán utilizadas para examinar su vinculación con la ideología sexista y las experiencias de victimización en el ámbito de las relaciones de pareja.…”