Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 2000 Apr;90(4):553–559. doi: 10.2105/ajph.90.4.553

Frequency and correlates of intimate partner violence by type: physical, sexual, and psychological battering.

A L Coker 1, P H Smith 1, R E McKeown 1, M J King 1
PMCID: PMC1446198  PMID: 10754969

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study estimated the frequency and correlates of intimate partner violence by type (physical, sexual, battering, or emotional abuse) among women seeking primary health care. METHODS: Women aged 18 to 65 years who attended family practice clinics in 1997 and 1998 took part. Participation included a brief in-clinic survey assessing intimate partner violence. Multiple polytomous logistic regression was used to assess correlates of partner violence by type. RESULTS: Of 1401 eligible women surveyed, 772 (55.1%) had experienced some type of intimate partner violence in a current, most recent, or past intimate relationship with a male partner; 20.2% were currently experiencing intimate partner violence. Among those who had experienced partner violence in any relationship, 77.3% experienced physical or sexual violence, and 22.7% experienced nonphysical abuse. Alcohol and/or drug abuse by the male partner was the strongest correlate of violence. CONCLUSIONS: Partner substance abuse and intimate partner violence in the woman's family of origin were strong risk factors for experiencing violence. Efforts to universally screen for partner violence and to effectively intervene to reduce the impact of such violence on women's lives must be a public health priority.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (102.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Appleton W. The battered woman syndrome. Ann Emerg Med. 1980 Feb;9(2):84–91. doi: 10.1016/s0196-0644(80)80336-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Attala J. M., Hudson W. W., McSweeney M. A partial validation of two short-form Partner Abuse Scales. Women Health. 1994;21(2-3):125–139. doi: 10.1300/J013v21n02_08. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bergman B., Brismar B., Nordin C. Utilisation of medical care by abused women. BMJ. 1992 Jul 4;305(6844):27–28. doi: 10.1136/bmj.305.6844.27. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bullock L., McFarlane J., Bateman L. H., Miller V. The prevalence and characteristics of battered women in a primary care setting. Nurse Pract. 1989 Jun;14(6):47, 50, 53-6. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ernst A. A., Nick T. G., Weiss S. J., Houry D., Mills T. Domestic violence in an inner-city ED. Ann Emerg Med. 1997 Aug;30(2):190–197. doi: 10.1016/s0196-0644(97)70141-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Freund K. M., Bak S. M., Blackhall L. Identifying domestic violence in primary care practice. J Gen Intern Med. 1996 Jan;11(1):44–46. doi: 10.1007/BF02603485. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gin N. E., Rucker L., Frayne S., Cygan R., Hubbell F. A. Prevalence of domestic violence among patients in three ambulatory care internal medicine clinics. J Gen Intern Med. 1991 Jul-Aug;6(4):317–322. doi: 10.1007/BF02597429. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Haber J. D. Abused women and chronic pain. Am J Nurs. 1985 Sep;85(9):1010–1012. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. McFarlane J., Parker B., Soeken K., Bullock L. Assessing for abuse during pregnancy. Severity and frequency of injuries and associated entry into prenatal care. JAMA. 1992 Jun 17;267(23):3176–3178. doi: 10.1001/jama.267.23.3176. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. McFarlane J., Soeken K., Campbell J., Parker B., Reel S., Silva C. Severity of abuse to pregnant women and associated gun access of the perpetrator. Public Health Nurs. 1998 Jun;15(3):201–206. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1446.1998.tb00340.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. McLeer S. V., Anwar R. A study of battered women presenting in an emergency department. Am J Public Health. 1989 Jan;79(1):65–66. doi: 10.2105/ajph.79.1.65. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Plichta S. The effects of woman abuse on health care utilization and health status: a literature review. Womens Health Issues. 1992 Fall;2(3):154–163. doi: 10.1016/s1049-3867(05)80264-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Rath G. D., Jarratt L. G., Leonardson G. Rates of domestic violence against adult women by men partners. J Am Board Fam Pract. 1989 Oct-Dec;2(4):227–233. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Smith P. H., Earp J. A., DeVellis R. Measuring battering: development of the Women's Experience with Battering (WEB) Scale. Womens Health. 1995 Winter;1(4):273–288. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Smith P. H., Gittelman D. K. Psychological consequences of battering. Implications for women's health and medical practice. N C Med J. 1994 Sep;55(9):434–439. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Smith P. H., Tessaro I., Earp J. A. Women's experiences with battering: a conceptualization from qualitative research. Womens Health Issues. 1995 Winter;5(4):173–182. doi: 10.1016/1049-3867(95)00615-X. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Tilden V. P., Shepherd P. Increasing the rate of identification of battered women in an emergency department: use of a nursing protocol. Res Nurs Health. 1987 Aug;10(4):209–215. doi: 10.1002/nur.4770100403. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES