Promotive Factors in Adolescence Against Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adulthood: A Latent Class Approach

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health problem in the United States. Although a substantial body of research has identified IPV and its risk factors, far less is known about promotive factors in adolescence that may reduce IPV risk in young adulthood. Given that adolescence is a critical developmental period for the formation of romantic relationships, this study aimed to identify patterns of IPV victimization among young adults and examine whether and how promotive factors across multiple social-ecological domains in adolescence are associated with later IPV exposure.

The current study utilized two waves of nationally representative data (year 15 and year 22) from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study and conducted latent class analyses with 885 participants. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between the promotive factors and IPV class membership.

Three latent classes emerged: (1) poly-victimization, (2) digital coercive control, and (3) low IPV. A family-level promotive factor-parenting and home environment-was associated with a reduced likelihood of belonging to the poly-victimization class compared to the low IPV class. Greater perceived school connectedness was also related to a lower likelihood of being in the poly-victimization class, though only in comparisons with the low IPV class.

Prevention efforts should prioritize strengthening supportive parenting and home environments and fostering school connectedness during adolescence. Importantly, targeted IPV interventions focusing on digital boundary-setting and cyber IPV prevention should be provided to individuals at risk of digital coercive control.