Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

To investigate if pregnancy/perinatal status (PS) modifies the risk of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). This cross-sectional study used data from the 2019 Brazilian National Health Survey (PNS), a population-based study. A sample of 26,006 women (18–49 years) answered a questionnaire assessing sociodemographic, reproductive history and IPV (psychological and physical/sexual) in the last 12 months. PS was classified into 3 groups: nulliparous, pregnant or <18 months postpartum, and ≥18 months postpartum. Logistic regression models were used to obtain crude and adjusted Odds Ratios (ORs) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs) for the association between PS and IPV category. All analyses were weighted. The prevalence of IPV psychological and physical/sexual was 7.9% (95% CI [7.2, 8.7]) and 3.6% [3.0, 4.3], respectively. PS was significantly associated with psychological IPV. Compared to nulliparous women, those with ≥ 18 months postpartum had a 60% higher chance of experiencing psychological IPV (OR: 1.60, [1.09, 2.36]), while pregnant women or those <18 months postpartum had even higher chances (OR: 1.94, [1.17, 3.23]). In contrast, PS was not significantly associated with physical/sexual IPV. Pregnant and postpartum women had a higher risk of psychological IPV, but not of physical/sexual IPV. Preventive and management strategies for psychological IPV in this group are recommended.

Keywords

intimate partner violence domestic violence violence exposure

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bernard

N. K.

Bogat

G. A.

Kashy

D. A.

Lonstein

J. S.

Levendosky

A. A.

(2022). Prenatal and postnatal intimate partner violence, depression, and infant-mother touch. Infant Behavior and Development, 67, 101703.

Breiding

M. J.

Basile

K. C.

Smith

S. G.

Black

M. C.

Mahendra

R. R.

(2015). Intimate partner violence surveillance: Uniform definitions and recommended data elements, version 2.0. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Brownridge

D. A.

Taillieu

T. L.

Tyler

K. A.

Tiwari

Ko Ling

Santos

S. C.

(2011). Pregnancy and intimate partner violence: Risk factors, severity, and health effects. Violence Against Women, 17(7), 858–81.

Burch

R. L.

Gallup

G. G.

(2004). Pregnancy as a stimulus for domestic violence. Journal of Family Violence, 19, 243–247. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOFV.0000032634.40840.48

Burnette

C. E.

(2016). Disentangling indigenous women’s experiences with intimate partner violence in the United States. Critical Social Work, 17(1), 1–19.

Castro

Peek-Asa

Ruiz

(2003). Violence against women in Mexico: A study of abuse before and during pregnancy. American Journal of Public Health, 93(7), 1110–1116.

Chan

K. L.

C. K. M.

F. K.

Leung

W. C.

(2022). Intimate partner violence before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and after childbirth: A new conceptualization highlighting individual changes in violence Against pregnant women over time. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(13–14), NP12111–NP12132.

Charles

Perreira

K. M.

(2007). Intimate partner violence during pregnancy and 1-year post-partum. Journal of Family Violence, 22, 609–619. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896–007–9112–0

Chen

X. Y.

C. K. M.

Chen

Gao

F. K.

Brownridge

D. A.

Leung

W. C.

Ling Chan

(2024). Intimate partner violence against women before, during, and after pregnancy: A meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 25(4), 2768–2780.

10.

Chen

X. Y.

C. K. M.

F. K.

Leung

W. C.

Chan

K. L.

(2022). Changing Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence against Pregnant Women: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 14397. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114397

11.

Chisholm

C. A.

Bullock

Ferguson

J. E. J.

(2017). Intimate partner violence and pregnancy: Epidemiology and impact. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 217(2), 141–144.

12.

Clark

C. J.

Hill

Jabbar

Silverman

J. G.

(2009). Violence during pregnancy in Jordan: its prevalence and associated risk and protective factors. Violence Against Women, 15(6), 720–735.

13.

Costa

D. C.

Ribeiro

M. R.

Batista

R. F.

Valente

C. M.

Ribeiro

J. V.

Almeida

L. A.

Silva

A. A.

(2017). Factors associated with physical violence against pregnant women from São Luís, Maranhão State, Brazil: An approach using structural equation modeling. Cadernos de Saude Publica, 33(1), e00078515.

14.

Defilipo

É.

Chagas

P. S. C.

Ribeiro

L. C

. (2020). Violence against pregnant women and associated factors in the city of Governador Valadares. Revista de Saude Publica, 54, 135.

15.

Donovan

B. M.

Spracklen

C. N.

Schweizer

M. L.

Ryckman

K. K.

Saftlas

A. F.

(2016). Intimate partner violence during pregnancy and the risk for adverse infant outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BJOG, 123(8), 1289–1299.

16.

Drexler

K. A.

Quist-Nelson

Weil

A. B.

(2022). Intimate partner violence and trauma-informed care in pregnancy. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 4(2), 100542.

17.

Durevall

Lindskog

(2015). Intimate partner violence and HIV in ten sub-Saharan African countries: what do the demographic and health surveys tell us? The Lancet Global Health, 3(1), e34–e43.

18.

Faisal-Cury

Menezes

P. R.

d’Oliveira

Schraiber

L. B.

Lopes

C. S.

(2013). Temporal relationship between intimate partner violence and postpartum depression in a sample of low income women. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 17(7), 1297–1303.

19.

Feltner

Wallace

Berkman

Kistler

C. E.

Middleton

J. C.

Barclay

Higginbotham

Green

J. T.

Jonas

D. E.

(2018). Screening for intimate partner violence, elder abuse, and abuse of vulnerable adults: Evidence report and systematic review for the US preventive services task force. JAMA, 320(16), 1688–1701.

20.

Gelaye

Kajeepeta

Williams

M. A.

(2016). Suicidal ideation in pregnancy: An epidemiologic review. The Archives of Womens’ Ment Health, 19(5), 741–751.

21.

Henriksen

Kisa

Lukasse

Flaathen

E. M.

Mortensen

Karlsen

Garnweidner-Holme

(2023). Cultural sensitivity in interventions aiming to reduce or prevent intimate partner violence during pregnancy: A scoping review. Trauma Violence Abuse, 24(1), 97–109.

22.

Islam

M. J.

Broidy

Mazerolle

Baird

Mazumder

(2021). Exploring intimate partner violence before, during, and after pregnancy in Bangladesh. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(7–8), 3584–3612.

23.

Jahanfar

Howard

L. M.

Medley

(2014). Interventions for preventing or reducing domestic violence against pregnant women. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2014(11), CD009414.

24.

Kingston

Heaman

Urquia

O’Campo

Janssen

Thiessen

Smylie

(2016). Correlates of abuse around the time of pregnancy: Results from a National Survey of Canadian Women. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 20(4), 778–789.

25.

Lockington

E. P.

Sherrell

H. C.

Crawford

Rae

Kumar

(2023). Intimate partner violence is a significant risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes. AJOG Global Reports, 3(4), 100283.

26.

Ludermir

A. B.

Lewis

Valongueiro

S. A.

de Araújo

T. V.

Araya

(2010). Violence against women by their intimate partner during pregnancy and postnatal depression: A prospective cohort study. Lancet, 376(9744), 903–910.

27.

Macy

R. J.

Martin

S. L.

Kupper

L. L.

Casanueva

Guo

(2007). Partner violence among women before, during, and after pregnancy: Multiple opportunities for intervention. Womens Health Issues, 17(5), 290–299.

28.

McIntosh

J. E.

Tan

E. S.

Levendosky

A. A.

Holtzworth-Munroe

(2021). Mothers’ experience of intimate partner violence and subsequent offspring attachment security ages 1–5 years: A meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 22(4), 885–899.

29.

O’Doherty

Hegarty

Ramsay

Davidson

L. L.

Feder

Taft

(2015). Screening women for intimate partner violence in healthcare settings. Cochrane Database of Systmatic Reviews, 2015(7), CD007007.

30.

Palladino

C. L.

Singh

Campbell

Flynn

Gold

K. J.

(2011). Homicide and suicide during the perinatal period: Findings from the National Violent Death Reporting System. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 118(5), 1056–1063.

31.

Pastor-Moreno

Ruiz-Pérez

Henares-Montiel

Escribà-Agüir

Higueras-Callejón

Ricci-Cabello

(2020). Intimate partner violence and perinatal health: A systematic review. BJOG, 127(5), 537–547.

32.

Pastor-Moreno

Ruiz-Pérez

Henares-Montiel

Petrova

(2020). Intimate partner violence during pregnancy and risk of fetal and neonatal death: A meta-analysis with socioeconomic context indicators. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 222(2), 123–133.e125.

33.

Román-Gálvez

R. M.

Martín-Peláez

Fernández-Félix

B. M.

Zamora

Khan

K. S.

Bueno-Cavanillas

(2021). Worldwide prevalence of intimate partner violence in pregnancy. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 738459.

34.

Sardinha

Maheu-Giroux

Stöckl

Meyer

S. R.

García-Moreno

(2022). Global, regional, and national prevalence estimates of physical or sexual, or both, intimate partner violence against women in 2018. Lancet, 399(10327), 803–813.

35.

Scribano

P. V.

Stevens

Kaizar

Team

N.-I. R.

(2013). The effects of intimate partner violence before, during, and after pregnancy in nurse visited first time mothers. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 17(2), 307–318.

36.

Silva

E. P.

Ludermir

A. B.

Araújo

T. V.

Valongueiro

S. A.

(2011). Frequency and pattern of intimate partner violence before, during and after pregnancy. Revista de Saúde Pública, 45(6), 1044–1053.

37.

Spearman

K. J.

Vaughan-Eden

Hardesty

J. L.

Campbell

(2024). Post-separation abuse: A literature review connecting tactics to harm. Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody, and Child Development, 21(2), 145–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/26904586.2023.2177233

38.

Spearman

K. J.

Hardesty

J. L.

Campbell

(2023). Post-separation abuse: A concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 79, 1225–1246.

39.

Sperlich

Seng

J. S.

Taylor

Bradbury-Jones

(2017). Integrating trauma-informed care into maternity care practice: Conceptual and practical issues. The Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 62(6), 661–672.

40.

Stopa

S. R.

Szwarcwald

C. L.

Oliveira

M. M.

Gouvea

E. C. D. P.

Vieira

M. L. F. P.

Freitas

M. P. S.

Macário

E. M.

(2020). National Health Survey 2019: History, methods and perspectives. Epidemiol Serv Saude, 29(5), e2020315.

41.

Tabb

K. M.

Huang

Valdovinos

Toor

Ostler

Vanderwater

Wang

Menezes

P. R.

Faisal-Cury

(2018). Intimate partner violence is associated with suicidality among low-income postpartum women. Journal of Womens Health (Larchmt), 27(2), 171–178.

42.

United Nation. (2024). Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/

43.

Van Parys

A. S.

Deschepper

Michielsen

Temmerman

Verstraelen

. (2014). Prevalence and evolution of intimate partner violence before and during pregnancy: A cross-sectional study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth, 14, 294.

44.

World Health Organization. (WHO). (2004). Intimate partner violence. https://apps.who.int/violence-info/intimate-partner-violence/

45.

World Health Organization. (2005). WHO multi-country study of women’s health and domestic violence against women: Summary report of initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses. .

46.

Zhu

O’Campo

Koenig

M. A.

Mock

Campbell

(2005). Prevalence of and risk factors for intimate partner violence in China. American Journal of Public Health, 95(1), 78–85.

47.

Yakubovich

A. R.

Stöckl

Murray

Melendez-Torres

G. J.

Steinert

J. I.

Glavin

C. E. Y.

Humphreys

D. K.

(2018). Risk and protective factors for intimate partner violence against women: Systematic review and meta-analyses of prospective-longitudinal studies. American Journal of Public Health, 108(7), e1–e11.