Intimate Partner Violence: A Multinational Test of Cultural Spillover Theory

What do the Public Understand About Intimate Partner Violence in the Context of Military Veteran Status and PTSD?

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) represents a significant public and social health concern and may present particular complexities in military veteran relationships which are subject to unique stressors including separations, transition to civilian life and increased risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Public understanding is vital in terms of ensuring access to services and appropriate intervention. However, little is known about the public perception of IPV in this context. This study sought to assess how public recognition and discourse is affected by military veteran status and a diagnosis of PTSD. Community participants (N = 269) were randomly allocated to one of four conditions and presented with a story containing IPV in which the profession (military veteran/civilian worker) and diagnostic status (PTSD/No PTSD) were manipulated. All participants rated the extent to which they felt the story contained IPV; additionally, half (n = 123) took part in a story completion task designed to elicit qualitative data with regards to public discourse. The mean scores in all conditions were weighted towards IPV recognition. Results indicated a small interaction between job role and PTSD (F[1265] = 7.888, p < 0.01, partial n² = 0.029) meaning that the public are more likely to recognise IPV when it is perpetrated by a military veteran than a civilian with PTSD. Diagnostic status made no difference to recognising abuse perpetrated by a military veteran. However, the fit of the model was weak (r² = .040) meaning that the large majority of variance was due to factors not accounted for. Qualitative findings indicated that in a military population trauma may be assumed even where not indicated and the public appear less likely to consider current stressors or acknowledge that PTSD cannot justify abuse. Victims of IPV in military relationships may therefore be particularly vulnerable to discourses that prioritise the victim status of the perpetrator.

Evaluating Community Factors Associated With Individually Held Intimate Partner Violence Beliefs Across 51 Countries

Globally, one in three women will experience intimate partner violence (IPV) within her lifetime. IPV attitudes are highly predictive of IPV. While a wealth of literature on risk factors related to IPV exist, an overarching critique in the field is the lack of studies examining risk factors across the socioecological framework. Using data from multiple administrative and individual surveys, this study fills a gap in the literature by evaluating the effect of meso-influences on physical IPV attitudes (i.e., permissibility of a man beating his wife) while accounting for known micro- and macro-risk factors in 64,466 individuals across 51 low-, middle- and high-income countries. Mixed-effects modeling was used to evaluate factors and identify comparative contributions of each factor representing the socio-ecological levels. We tested five multivariate logistic models. The final model indicated that greater perceived neighborhood disorder and less perceived neighborhood security were associated with physical IPV attitudes, while individual endorsement of interpersonal violence, belief in corporal punishment of children, holding greater patriarchal beliefs, being male, being separated from a significant partner, reporting greater household hunger and nationally lower levels of female literacy were associated with beliefs that IPV is acceptable. Overall, the findings of this study support that IPV is a complex behavior, influenced by factors across socio-ecological domains. However, data on neighborhood structural factors (i.e., exosystem) would help unpack the mechanisms between macro-, meso- and micro-level factors and may be important for protecting women from violence.

Workplace Bullying, Emotional Exhaustion, and Partner Social Undermining: A Weekly Diary Study

Workplace bullying is one of the most relevant social stressors at work. Although previous research has shown its negative consequences for health and well-being, scarce evidence about the short-term consequences of workplace bullying and its crossover effects on the home domain is available. Thus, we conducted a multisource weekly diary study. A sample of 124 employees and their spouses filled a general survey (baseline measures) and a weekly online survey for four consecutive weeks (number of occasions = 992). Multilevel analyses showed that workplace bullying is associated with emotional exhaustion (γ = 0.643, SE = 0.215, t = 2.99, p < .05) and behaviors of social undermining toward the partner (γ = 0.751, SE = 0.187, t = 4.01, p < .01). Furthermore, rumination mediated the relationship between workplace bullying and its potential detrimental consequences for both employees' well-being (i.e., emotional exhaustion) and interpersonal connections (i.e., partner social undermining). These results shed some light on the mechanisms that can explain both the short-term effects of workplace bullying on employees' well-being and how such effects go beyond the work setting and can impact the home domain. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Intimate partner violence in Greece: a study of 664 consecutive forensic clinical examinations

BACKGROUND

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a well-known phenomenon, which affects mostly women. While IPV victims may attend emergency departments (EDs) seeking medical care, not all of them will make an allegation against their abusers.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and the characteristics of the victims, who had made an allegation about the violent incident and had been examined by a forensic pathologist for judicial purposes, and had attended EDs seeking medical care, before the forensic examination.

METHODS

We reviewed the archives of clinical examinations that were conducted at the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens during a 5-year period (2012-16).

RESULTS

Six hundred sixty-four clinical examinations were conducted at our Department for IPV allegations. According to our findings, women were more likely to seek medical care than men. Victims who have attended EDs were more likely to have sustained injuries located at least on the head or on the lower limbs.

CONCLUSION

The majority of IPV victims in the broader region of Attica (Greece) were women, usually married, and aged between 30 and 49 years old. Despite the fact that the majority of IPV incidents are not reported to police, every person who is engaged in the process of dealing with IPV victims has to be educated and adequately informed about this phenomenon, its implications and the possible ways to deal with it. Furthermore, victims need to be educated and informed adequately in waiting rooms of EDs.