Perpetual perpetration: The relationship between intimate partner violence and child maltreatment among young adults

Background: While the co-occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment (CM) is well documented, much research in this area is restricted to small clinical samples of adults. Furthermore, almost no research addresses women's perpetration of both IPV and CM, and limited research considers this relationship within a broad ecological framework. Methods: Using SAS-callable SUDAAN we constructed multivariate logistic regression models to analyze the relationship between both male- and female- perpetrated IPV and CM in a nationally representative sample of young adults (Add Health; n=2736), controlling for a wide array of individual-, family-, and community-level risk factors. Results: Overall, 22% of the sample reported perpetrating CM and 40% reported perpetrating IPV. Young men and women who perpetrated violence against a partner were more likely to maltreat their children than those who did not perpetrate IPV (OR=1.39, p=0.024). Other factors significantly associated with CM perpetration by parents were participation in delinquent activities (OR=4.00, p=0.035) and a history of being maltreated as a child (OR=1.45, p=0.001). Conclusions: Findings imply that it is insufficient to focus exclusively on researching, treating, or preventing only one form of violence. Positive side effects of intervening to improve intimate relationships might include reduction in subsequent perpetration of CM. Given that IPV perpetration peaks in young adulthood, this examination of violence in early relationships helps to fill gaps in the literature and suggests a possible entry point for earlier intervention.