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Risk Factors for Violence in Adult Heterosexual Noncasual Relationships: An Overview of Reviews
Ravit Alfandari1, Brian J Taylor2, Rebecca Scott3
1University of Haifa, Israel.
Trauma, Violence & Abuse
|November 28, 2025
Summary
Intimate partner violence (IPV) risk factors show limited predictive power, with previous IPV being the strongest indicator. The evidence suggests a degree of randomness in IPV, impacting prevention strategies.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Criminology
- Sociology
Background:
- Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant global issue affecting social structures, public health, and human rights.
- Understanding IPV risk factors is crucial for developing effective assessment, prevention, and intervention strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize existing systematic reviews (SRs) with meta-analyses on intimate partner violence risk factors.
- To identify and categorize empirically supported risk factors for IPV perpetration and victimization.
Main Methods:
- Conducted systematic searches for SRs with meta-analyses on IPV risk factors in adult heterosexual relationships (2011-2021).
- Searched four major databases (Medline, CINAHL Plus, Scopus, APA PsycInfo) and supplemented with manual searches.
- Included 17 SRs published between 2012 and 2022, analyzing risk factors across demographic, individual, family, relationship, and social categories.
Main Results:
- Identified 73 risk factors for perpetrators and 61 for victims.
- Few risk factors demonstrated moderate to strong predictive power for IPV perpetration (50 coefficients); previous IPV was the most significant.
- Even fewer risk factors showed statistical significance for IPV victimization (26 coefficients), primarily within relationship violence categories.
Conclusions:
- The current evidence base suggests a degree of randomness in intimate partner violence.
- The limited predictive power of identified risk factors offers restricted guidance for policy, practice, and research.
- Further research is needed to refine understanding and improve interventions for intimate partner violence.
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