Women's Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration During Pregnancy and Postpartum

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the prevalence of women's psychological, minor physical, and severe physical intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration during the first 18 weeks of pregnancy and at 6 weeks postpartum and to compare women who used each type of IPV to those who did not. Women who increased their IPV perpetration over time were also compared to women who decreased or did not change their IPV perpetration over time. A sample of 180 women participated in a larger study of the well-being of pregnant women. Data were collected via self-report survey and 122 participants were retained at follow-up. At both time points, more women in the sample reported IPV perpetration (baseline n = 132; follow-up n = 73) than IPV victimization (baseline n = 114; follow-up n = 66). Women who perpetrated IPV reported higher levels of IPV victimization, reported partner alcohol misuse, stress, depression, and lower dyadic adjustment compared to women who did not. Women's IPV perpetration was associated with several negative outcomes. Findings suggest that IPV screening during pregnancy and postpartum should include women's IPV perpetration and should be conducted at multiple time points, since women's IPV experiences may change over time.