Behavioral Health Outcomes of Specific IPV Experiences Moderated by Sex in a Military Sexual Trauma Sample

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health concern among U.S. service members/veterans (SM/Vs) who experienced military sexual trauma (MST). Higher exposure to IPV is associated with worse psychological outcomes, but most studies focus on female survivors and overall experiences of IPV in place of IPV subtypes of psychological aggression, physical assault, and sexual coercion. The current study examined whether sex moderated the association of SM/Vs' experiences with IPV subtypes with outcomes of suicide risk, depression symptom severity, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, and alcohol use in a mixed sex sample of MST survivors. This study is a secondary analysis of 346 SM/V MST survivors (50.9% male) who completed measures of IPV experiences, PTSD symptom severity, depression symptom severity, suicide risk, and alcohol use. Each outcome was regressed on IPV experience subtype, sex, and their interaction to determine if sex moderated the association of IPV subtype and behavioral health outcomes. Sex moderated the association of sexual coercion and suicide risk such that the interaction of male sex and higher sexual coercion scores was associated with higher suicide risk (B = 0.08, SE = 0.04, p = .05). Sex also moderated the association of physical assault and depression symptom severity such that the interaction of male sex and higher physical assault scores were associated with higher depression severity (B = 0.13, SE = 0.05, p = .01). Sex did not moderate the association of PTSD or alcohol use with any IPV subtype. Male MST survivors may be at increased risk for suicide and depression symptom severity depending on IPV experience relative to females, which is especially important given higher rates of suicide in males. These results demonstrate the importance of screening for different subtypes of IPV experiences among male MST survivors, who are typically under-represented in the literature.