The Factor Structure of Intimate Partner Violence Risk

To improve our understanding of the latent constructs of intimate partner violence (IPV) risk, we explored the underlying factor structure of combined items from three IPV risk assessment tools and examined whether the factors predict recidivism outcomes. Data were examined for 251 adult men who were charged with violence against their past or current female intimate partners and whose files were referred for a comprehensive threat assessment from 2010 to 2016 in Canada. Results suggested six underlying risk factors, two of which significantly predicted IPV, any violent, and any recidivism outcomes in a 4-year average follow-up with 227 men. However, only one factor (Antisocial Patterns and Psychosocial Adjustment) independently predicted IPV and any violent recidivism over time above and beyond other factors. Our findings indicate room to further improve current IPV risk assessment measures and support the call for informative causal theories of IPV recidivism.