The Stability of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration From Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood in Sexual Minorities

Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the stability of physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration from adolescence to emerging adulthood among sexual minorities. Methods: Adolescents who identified as a sexual minority (N = 135; 71.1% female; mean age = 15.02, standard deviation = .77; 34.1% African-American/black, 26.7% white, 22.2% Hispanic) from southeast Texas were assessed annually for 6 years on their IPV perpetration. Results: Structural equation modeling demonstrated that physical IPV perpetration was modestly stable across years 1-4 (24.6%, 24.6%, 26.4%, and 21.6%, respectively), decreased in year 5 (18.6%), and increased in year 6 (24.5%). The stability of sexual IPV perpetration was high across all 6 years (14.3%, 13%, 14.9%, 10.8%, 12.4%, and 14.4%). Conclusions: This is the first study to examine the stability of IPV perpetration among sexual minority adolescents. Findings suggest that the development of interventions for IPV among sexual minority adolescents is needed, as IPV is unlikely to desist from adolescence to emerging adulthood. (C) 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.