Intimate Partner Violence Reported by Disadvantaged Male Youth Varies across Countries

Substantial minorities of adolescent males living in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods report having perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) in the past year, according to a multinational comparison study of 15-19-year-olds in Baltimore, USA Johannesburg, South Africa; New Delhi, India; and Shanghai, China. (1) The proportion of adolescent males who reported any past-year perpetration of physical or sexual IPV was highest in Johannesburg and New Delhi (40% and 38%, respectively), and lower in Baltimore (17%) and Shanghai (9%). Young men more commonly reported having perpetrated physical IPV (9-37%) than sexual IPV (1-14%). Variables positively associated with past-year perpetration of IPV among young men in two or more of the study countries included older age, history of binge drinking in the past 30 days, reporting of depressive symptoms, and having been the victim of violence at home or in the community in the past year; being employed and having more equitable attitudes about gender norms were negatively associated with the outcome. For the study, investigators used cross-sectional survey data collected in 2013 as part of the Well Being of Adolescents in Vulnerable Environments study. In total, 1,007 males aged 15-19 living in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the four study cities were asked about their past-year perpetration of physical IPV (defined as having pushed, slapped or thrown something at a partner; dragged or beaten a partner; choked, kicked, shoved or burned a partner on purpose; or used or threatened to use a weapon on a partner) or sexual IPV (defined as physically forcing a partner to have intercourse, or pressuring a partner to have unwanted intercourse or insisting that a partner do so). In addition, participants reported on their social and demographic characteristics (age, education, and marital and employment status), attitudes about gender norms (assessed by six items from the Gender-Equitable Men scale), depressive symptoms (assessed by the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), binge drinking (having five or more alcoholic drinks in a row) in the past 30 days and having been the victim of violence at home or in the community in the past year. The investigators restricted their analysis to young men who reported having ever had vaginal sex, being currently married or having ever been in a romantic relationship, and for whom data on IPV perpetration were available, which resulted in a final sample of 723 (224 in Baltimore, 256 in Johannesburg, 84 in New Delhi and 159 in Shanghai). Prevalence of past-year IPV perpetration was calculated for each setting, and multivariate logistic regression models were conducted to examine variables associated with IPV perpetration. Nearly all young men in the four cities had been in a romantic relationship (94-98%), but few were currently married (0-2%); the proportion who reported sexual experience ranged from 38% in Shanghai to 92% in Baltimore. Current employment was most common in Shanghai (79%); fewer young men in Baltimore and Johannesburg (36-37%) and in New Delhi (23%) reported having a job. …