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. 2024 Oct 11:8862605241284087.
doi: 10.1177/08862605241284087. Online ahead of print.

Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence Among Veterans: A Latent Class Analysis

Galina A Portnoy  1   2 , Mark R Relyea  1   2 , Aliya R Webermann  1   2 , Candice Presseau  1   2 , Katherine M Iverson  3   4 , Cynthia A Brandt  1   2 , Sally G Haskell  1   2
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Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence Among Veterans: A Latent Class Analysis

Galina A Portnoy et al. J Interpers Violence. .

Abstract

The majority of intimate partner violence (IPV) research is unidirectional, focusing on IPV use (i.e., perpetration) or experience (i.e., victimization). However, when IPV use and experience data are simultaneously included in analyses, bidirectional IPV often emerges as a common IPV pattern. The objective of this study was to examine patterns of IPV use and experience, risk factors that may be associated with these patterns, and potential gender differences within a sample of post-9/11 Veterans. This study included a national sample of post-9/11 Veterans (N = 1,150; 50.3% women) who completed self-report measures at two timepoints. We performed a latent class analysis (LCA) to determine the appropriate number of IPV classes, conducted sensitivity analyses, and examined factors potentially associated with IPV class membership. We identified three distinct classes of IPV: Low to no IPV, Bidirectional Psychological IPV, and Bidirectional Multiform IPV. Men and women reported similar rates of IPV use and experience, and there were no gender differences in the LCA model. However, race and ethnicity, employment status, children in the household, marital status, child abuse or witnessing family violence, lifetime physical assault, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and binge drinking were differentially associated with class membership. This study extends existing knowledge on patterns of IPV among Veterans and factors associated with these patterns. Bidirectional IPV was the most common IPV pattern, underscoring the importance of examining IPV use and experience concurrently within research and clinical samples, and developing comprehensive IPV screening and treatment strategies that incorporate bidirectional IPV in work to advance relationship health and safety among Veterans.

Keywords: PTSD; batterers; domestic violence; mental health and violence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared a potential conflict of interest (e.g., a financial relationship with the commercial organizations or products discussed in this article) as follows: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the U.S. government. The authors had full access to the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. No financial disclosures were reported by the authors of this article.

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