Role of coercion in health symptom clusters of low-income African American women in mainland US and US Virgin Islands

For 40 years, scholars have debated about what causes intimate partner violence (IPV) and why empirical studies provide conflicting data about IPV perpetration. African American women are consistently identified as disproportionately victimized and at increased risk for multiple negative physical, psychosocial, and behavioral IPV-associated outcomes. This study aims to determine whether a promising framework for developing better IPV assessment is appropriate for low-income African American women. Using exploratory factor analysis and a series of multinomial logistic regressions, this study explores the types of coercion experienced and its relationship to health symptom clusters. Eleven hundred African American and Afro-Caribbean women from Baltimore and the US Virgin Islands completed thirty minute audio computer self-assisted interviews (ACASI). Participants ranged from 18-55 years old with a mean age of 30.09 years (SD: 10.09). Majority of the sample have some college (17.73%), are single (57.4%), and unemployed (60.4%). Preliminary findings indicate only emotional coercion as a primary type. Controlling for age, race/ethnicity, lifetime and past 2-yr. IPV, IPV during pregnancy, and participant and partner income, women experiencing emotional coercion were over sixteen times less likely to report experiencing CNS cluster symptoms (i.e. seizures, headaches, etc.) (OR: -16.5, p=0.193) and are 45% less likely to report experience gynecological cluster symptoms (i.e. vaginal bleeding, difficulty getting pregnant, etc.) (OR: 0.55, p=0.599). Women with emotional coercion are about 8% more likely to report cardiovascular cluster symptoms (i.e. heart palpitations and high blood pressure) (OR: 1.082, p=0.205). Findings have implications for IPV-related health assessments, relationship counseling, and research design.