Risk Factors and Moderators of Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Versus Perpetration Among Women in Spain

Bidirectional intimate partner violence (IPV) appears highly prevalent, but the extant literature, which has been dominated by work in North America, has not adequately accounted for how victimization overlaps with perpetration and how potential resources may interact with risk factors. A community sample of Spanish women completed measures of IPV approval, mental health risk factors (psychological distress and problematic substance use), and interpersonal resources (partner and social satisfaction). Using Mplus accounting for victimization and perpetration overlap, findings indicate that greater psychological distress and substance use were associated with IPV perpetration, and lower IPV approval was linked to victimization. Stronger partner satisfaction did not serve a buffering role but rather interacted to increase IPV perpetration; low social support was associated with victimization and exacerbated risk of perpetration.