Correlates of reproductive coercion among college women in abusive relationships: baseline data from the college safety study

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine correlates of reproductive coercion (RC) among a sample of college women in abusive relationships. Participants: 354 college students reporting a recent history of intimate partner violence (IPV). Methods: This study examines baseline data from a randomized controlled trial testing effectiveness of an interactive safety decision aid (myPlan). Results: Almost a quarter (24.3%) of the sample reported RC. Associated factors included races other than White (p ¼ 0.019), relationship instability (p ¼ 0.022), missing class due to relationship problems (p ¼ 0.001), IPV severity (p < 0.001), technology abuse (p < 0.001), traumatic brain injury-associated events (p < 0.001), and depression (p ¼ 0.024). Conclusions: RC was a significant predictor of depression, with implications for providers working with abused college women regarding the need for mental health services concurrent with IPV/RC services. A larger proportion of women who experienced RC sought help from a healthcare provider for contraception, which suggests intervention opportunities for college health providers.

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Reproductive Coercion in Women Victim/Survivors Receiving Housing Support

“…Prevalence of past-3 months RC was consistent with or higher than community samples that were similar in timeframe and/or demographics (Capasso et al, 2019;Hill et al, 2019;McCauley et al, 2017;Paterno et al, 2018;Thaller & Messing, 2014), but lower than other samples of IPV victim/survivors which used longer measurement timeframes (Decker et al, 2017;Grace et al, 2020b;Hess & Del Rosario, 2018). RC was significantly associated with frequency and severity of IPV as well as PTSD, possibly as a result of the severe violence; these results are consistent with other studies of similar populations which included non-IPV victim/survivors (Alexander et al, 2019), as well as other studies of exclusively IPV victim/ survivors (Grace et al, 2020b). In this sample, RC was not associated with depression, though other studies do find an association (Alexander et al, 2019;Capasso et al, 2019;Fasula et al, 2018).…”

“…Women who did not have children with their abusive partners (or had fewer children overall) were more likely to experience RC. That these partners were more likely to use RC behaviors as a method of power and control may be a result of seeking to solidify an unstable relationship (Grace et al, 2020b), though women who already had children with their abusive partners may have simply been less vulnerable to RC because this means of gaining control over a partner had already been established. Additionally, it is possible that other participants did experience RC, but outside of the study measurement timeframe, when those children were conceived.…”

“…Reproductive coercion (RC) is a type of IPV in which partners or family members coerce or influence the reproductive decisions of women, whether by pressuring them to get pregnant, sabotaging or restricting access to birth control methods, or controlling the outcome of a pregnancy (Grace & Anderson, 2018;Miller et al, 2010). RC is correlated with more severe IPV (Bagwell-Gray et al, 2021;Grace et al, 2020b;PettyJohn et al, 2021;Swan et al, 2020;Tarzia & Hegarty, 2021), and is one mechanism by which IPV affects unintended pregnancy and contraceptive nonuse (Alhusen et al, 2019;Grace et al, 2020a;Miller et al, 2010;Pallitto et al, 2013). RC has not been studied among women receiving housing support.…”

Reproductive and Sexual Coercion: The Role of Alcohol, Social and Demographic Conditions

“…In this connection, it is important to distinguish between the relationship dysfunction and violent entrapment or "battered woman syndrome" including the learned helplessness [44,45]. RC is regarded to be a form of IPV; it can lead to unintended pregnancy, abortion, poor pregnancy outcomes, STI, psychological trauma and depression [2,3,46,47]. Among potential contributing factors are disrespect for laws and regulations, impunity of some offenses and offenders, habitual display of death and violence on TV indirectly trivializing less spectacular phenomena such as the IPV, sexual and reproductive coercion.…”

A Conceptual Re-evaluation of Reproductive Coercion: Centring Intent, Fear and Control

“…A similar problem occurs in a recent study by Grace and colleagues that used a survey to examine the prevalence and correlates for RCA amongst college students (15). The study measured RCA using one question about contraceptive sabotage and another that asked "Have you prevented a pregnancy by using emergency contraception or ended a pregnancy using other methods, and did not tell your partner about it because you were afraid of your partner?"…”