Intimate Partner Violence Linked to Lower Psychosocial Well-Being in Women, Not Men

A new study revealed that a greater frequency of intimate partner violence in the past year among females was linked to lower psychosocial well-being regarding finances, health, intimate relationships, and broader social relationships.1 Conversely, males had nonsignificant associations between intimate partner violence and psychosocial well-being.

“Findings suggest that it may be important to attend to the comprehensive psychosocial well-being of women who experience [intimate partner violence], while also suggesting a need for further research to elucidate the unique effects of experiencing [intimate partner violence] among men,” wrote investigators, led by Emily Taverna, PhD, from the VA Boston Healthcare System.

Until now, research on intimate partner violence primarily focused on specific physical and mental health outcomes, with an emphasis on females. Only a few studies explored the impact of intimate partner violence on other aspects of psychosocial well-being among females and males.2

Taverna and colleagues sought to examine how intimate partner violence impacts psychosocial well-being among males and females.1 They leveraged a sample from a larger survey of US veterans, identified through the Veterans Affairs/ Department of Defense Identity Repository. Among the sample (n = 1133), men (n = 540) were significantly older than women (n = 593) (58.31 years vs 49.95 years), less educated (four-year college degree, 20.4% males vs 25.8% females), more likely to identify as heterosexual or straight (96.9% vs 88.2%), more likely to identify as White (82.2% vs 75.5%), and less likely to identify as Black or African American (11.8% vs 17.9%).

Veterans completed 2 surveys approximately a year apart (January 31, 2020, to May 13, 2020, and January 26, 2021, to April 26, 2021). These surveys were evaluated for intimate partner violence in the past year and before the past year using the extended Hurt-Insult-Threaten-Scream screening tool, as well as an additional item used by the VA to screen for sexual intimate partner violence.

Investigators used the Well-Being Inventory to assess past 3-month well-being indicators within the domains of paid employment, finances, health, and social relationships (intimate relationships, parenting, and broader social relationships). They evaluated 3 dimensions of well-being within each domain: objective status (the presence of socio-material or other conditions that may impact wellbeing), functioning (the extent of engagement in the well-being promoting behavior), and satisfaction (the extent of contentment veterans had with the experience of that domain). A greater well-being was defined as having full or part-time paid employment, having current and future financial needs met, having no major health conditions, having an intimate relationship, being a parent to a child < 18 years, and having regular engagement with the community, friends, or extended family.

The study revealed that women and men did not significantly differ regarding experiencing overall (OR, 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81 to 1.38) or physical (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.49 to 1.67) intimate partner violence in the past year. However, women were more likely to experience past year psychological (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.38 to 2.40) and sexual (OR, 4.35; 95% CI, 1.79 to10.59) intimate partner violence. T-tests showed that the frequency of intimate partner violence in the past year did not significantly differ between women and men (t, −1.37; P = .171) but did differ significantly for intimate partner violence before the past year (t = −5.65; P < 0.001).

The multivariate regression models showed greater intimate partner violence in the past year among women was significantly associated with lower well-being in the domains of financial (P < .001), health (P < .001), intimate relationship (P = .007), and broader social relationship (P = .018). For men, intimate partner violence in the past year was not significantly associated with any of the well-being outcomes (P > .05).

Greater experiences of intimate partner violence before the past year among females were linked to lower well-being in the domains of employment (P = .0002), finances (P = .020), and health (P = .012).

“The finding that women's broader social well-being was impacted by [intimate partner violence] in the past year but not prior to the past year may suggest that social relationships are negatively impacted by more acute [intimate partner violence experiences, but that these may not persist with more distal [intimate partner violence experiences,” investigators wrote.

Men with greater intimate partner violence experiences before the past year were not significantly associated with well-being outcomes (P > .05).

“Findings for men did not align with our hypotheses, in that no significant effects on psychosocial well-being were observed,” investigators wrote. “This was surprising given that prior research has documented that [intimate partner violence] experiences are associated with psychosocial health impacts among men (e.g., work- and health-related outcomes), even if effects tend to be more pronounced among women.”

References

1. Taverna E, Iverson KM, Kumar SA, Vogt D, Mitchell KS. Beyond Physical and Mental Health: The Broader Impacts of Intimate Partner Violence on Psychosocial Well-Being Among Women and Men Veterans. Stress Health. 2025 Feb;41(1):e3526. doi: 10.1002/smi.3526. PMID: 39760934.
2. Lawrence, E., R. Orengo-Aguayo, A. Langer, and R. L. Brock. 2012. “The Impact and Consequences of Partner Abuse on Partners.” Partner Abuse 3: 406–428. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.3.4.406.