Sexual and Gender Minority Intimate Partner Violence and Childhood Violence Exposure

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Public Health

Background:

• Limited research exists on intimate partner violence (IPV) among female-assigned-at-birth sexual and gender minorities (FAB SGM).
• Childhood violence exposure (CVE) is a potential risk factor for IPV victimization and perpetration in this population.
• Gaps exist in understanding violence type and gender matching between CVE and IPV, and the impact of multiple CVE types.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between various forms of childhood violence exposure (CVE) and intimate partner violence (IPV) risk in FAB SGM.
• To investigate whether violence type or gender matching occurs between CVE and IPV.
• To determine if the number of different CVE types experienced influences IPV risk.

Main Methods:

• Utilized baseline survey data from the FAB400 study, a merged cohort accelerated longitudinal study.
• Focused analyses on 457 FAB SGM adolescents and young adults with prior intimate relationship experience.
• Assessed multiple forms of CVE including parental verbal/physical abuse, childhood sexual abuse, witnessing sibling abuse, and witnessing interparental violence.

Main Results:

• Each assessed form of CVE predicted increased risk for both IPV perpetration and victimization.
• No evidence of a violence type match was found between CVE and IPV.
• Witnessing interparental violence predicted IPV regardless of the abused parent's gender.
• Exposure to a greater number of distinct CVE types was associated with higher IPV risk.

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest the intergenerational transmission of violence framework is applicable to FAB SGM.
• CVE, regardless of type or gender, significantly elevates IPV risk in this population.
• Consideration of CVE is crucial for screening and intervention efforts targeting childhood, family, and partner violence in FAB SGM.