Women and men physically abused by closely related perpetrators over a lifespan. Revictimization and associations to situational factors in childhood

Abstract

Background

Physical revictimization has been sparsely examined, and in particular the risk of revictimization within the context of closely related perpetrators.

Objective

To elucidate the relative contributions of exposure to physical violence in childhood and in youth by perpetrators close to the victim and situational factors in childhood to the risk of physical IPV in adulthood against the social-ecological background of the Trauma-Informed Theory of Individual Health Behavior (TTB). Trust was used as a proxy for resilience.

Participants and setting

A representative sample of 10,337 women and men aged 18–74 in Sweden.

Methods

A combined online and postal survey was used. Attrition bias was adjusted for by a calibration and weighting procedure based on official register information. Logistic regression was applied to calculate odds ratios (OR).

Results

Physical abuse by a parent before the age of 15 was associated with approximately 2–3 fold increased odds of physical adult partner violence. The strongest correlation applied to victimization by a partner at age 15–17, where the risk for men was three times that for women. Dysfunctional family conditions and social risk behaviors in adolescence were also associated with adult IPV, while sociodemographic variables had no explanatory value.

Conclusions

Our results indicated that exposure to physical violence by perpetrators close to the victim was the most potent risk factor for exposure to physical IPV in adulthood and that exposure at multiple ages increased this risk. Trust was clearly associated with lower odds of revictimization. Our findings support the tenets of TTB and suggest that they may be extended to the concept of revictimization.