Peer-reviewed article
Relational dynamics associated with adolescent and young adult (13 to 23 years of age) partner violence: The role of inter-parental violence and child abuse.
Priya Maurya, T Muhammad, Chanda Maurya ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how witnessing violence between parents and experiencing childhood abuse affects intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization among married girls and young women aged 13–23 years in India. Using data from 5,480 participants, the research found that 39% experienced physical violence from partners, 35% sexual violence, and 28% emotional violence. Witnessing inter-parental violence and experiencing childhood abuse were both strong risk factors for later IPV victimization. The study highlights the need for multi-level interventions involving families, communities, and service providers to break cycles of violence.
Key points
- 39% of married adolescent and young girls experienced physical violence from partners; 35% experienced sexual violence and 28% experienced emotional violence
- 30% of respondents witnessed inter-parental violence during childhood, and 32% were beaten by their parents
- Witnessing inter-parental violence significantly increased the likelihood of parents' physical violence toward adolescent girls (β = 0.49, P<0.001)
- Emotional violence had the strongest association with IPV victimization (parameter estimate 1.10), followed by physical violence (1.00) and sexual violence (0.62)
- Both witnessing inter-parental violence and experiencing childhood abuse were independently and significantly associated with later IPV victimization
Limitations
The study is cross-sectional and uses retrospective self-reported data from a single survey wave, limiting causal inference. The analysis does not establish the temporal sequence of events or account for all potential confounding variables that may influence the relationship between childhood exposure to violence and adult IPV victimization.
Abstract
PURPOSE: The study aimed to examine the effect of witnessing inter-parental violence and experiencing childhood abuse on victimization of intimate partner violence (IPV) after marriage among adolescent and young girls. METHOD: Data were drawn from the second wave of the Understanding the lives of adolescents and young adults (UDAYA) survey (2018-2019). The sample size was 5480 married adolescent and young girls aged 13-23 years. The outcome variable of the study was the victimization of IPV. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were performed. RESULT: A total of 39% of married adolescent and young girls experienced physical violence, followed by sexual violence (35%) and emotional violence (28%) by their partner. Around 30% of respondents witnessed inter-parental violence, and 32% of the participants were beaten by their parents during childhood. Participants who had witnessed inter-parental violence were significantly correlated with experiencing childhood abuse, and this association was positively correlated with exposure to IPV in adolescence and young adulthood. Further, the parameter estimates of the indicators of IPV were highest for emotional violence (1.10) followed by physical violence (1.00) and sexual violence (0.62). Witnessing inter-parental violence significantly increases parents' physical violence to adolescents and young adult girls (β = 0.49, P<0.001, CI: 0.47-0.51). No tie between witnessing inter-parental violence and childhood abuse mediates their effect on later victimization of IPV. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that witnessing inter-parental violence is a strong risk factor for IPV victimization among adolescent and young adult girls. Our findings advocate prerequisite collaborative effort with multiple service providers for greater empowerment at national, state, community, and family levels to achieve SDG goals pertaining to eliminating violence against women.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- None—this is an observational study examining associations, not an intervention evaluation
- Population
- 5,480 married adolescent and young girls aged 13–23 years from the UDAYA survey (2018–2019), India
Key finding
39% of participants experienced physical IPV; 35% experienced sexual IPV; 28% experienced emotional IPV
Maurya et al. · PubMed (US National Library of Medicine) · 28 Dec 2023