Increases in Intimate Partner Violence During COVID-19: Prevalence and Correlates

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Abstract

Measures to contain the global COVID-19 pandemic led to stay-at-home orders across the world, accompanied by fears of a global surge in intimate partner violence (IPV). We administered an online general-population survey to 1169 women and transgender/nonbinary individuals throughout the state of Michigan in June–August 2020 to assess changes in the prevalence, severity, and correlates of IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quota sampling was used to match the racial/ethnic and urban/rural distribution of the state. More than one in seven (15.1%) participants reported physical, sexual, psychological, or technology-facilitated IPV since COVID, similar to the prevalence in the 3 months before COVID (16.2%). However, there were indications that IPV severity increased and that novel cases of IPV are occurring in relationships that previously had no abuse. A majority (64.2%) of individuals who experienced IPV since COVID reported that the IPV was new to the relationship (34.1%) or of increased severity during COVID-19 (26.6%), representing 9.7% of the overall sample. New or increased IPV was significantly more prevalent among those who were essential workers, pregnant, unable to afford rent, unemployed/underemployed or had recent changes to their job, had partners with recent changes to employment, and those who had gotten tested or tested positive for COVID-19. Urban residence, trans/nonbinary identity, and having a toddler were more strongly associated with IPV during COVID as compared to before COVID. While findings do not support significant changes in the overall prevalence of IPV, the majority of survivors reported incident IPV in relationships that had not previously been abusive, or IPV that became more severe since the start of the pandemic. Cases of new or increased IPV were more concentrated in marginalized groups. Potential touchpoints for outreach and services during future lockdowns include prenatal and pediatric settings, daycares, employers of essential workers, and COVID-19 testing centers. Policies providing rental, childcare, and unemployment support may mitigate increases in IPV during COVID-19.

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Relaxing the rule of ten events per variable in logistic and Cox regression.

E. Vittinghoff, C E McCulloch (2007)

The rule of thumb that logistic and Cox models should be used with a minimum of 10 outcome events per predictor variable (EPV), based on two simulation studies, may be too conservative. The authors conducted a large simulation study of other influences on confidence interval coverage, type I error, relative bias, and other model performance measures. They found a range of circumstances in which coverage and bias were within acceptable levels despite less than 10 EPV, as well as other factors that were as influential as or more influential than EPV. They conclude that this rule can be relaxed, in particular for sensitivity analyses undertaken to demonstrate adequate control of confounding.

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What factors are associated with recent intimate partner violence? findings from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence

Tanya Abramsky, Charlotte Watts, Claudia Garcia-Moreno … (2011)

Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a global public health and human rights concern. Despite a growing body of research into risk factors for IPV, methodological differences limit the extent to which comparisons can be made between studies. We used data from ten countries included in the WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence to identify factors that are consistently associated with abuse across sites, in order to inform the design of IPV prevention programs. Methods Standardised population-based household surveys were done between 2000 and 2003. One woman aged 15-49 years was randomly selected from each sampled household. Those who had ever had a male partner were asked about their experiences of physically and sexually violent acts. We performed multivariate logistic regression to identify predictors of physical and/or sexual partner violence within the past 12 months. Results Despite wide variations in the prevalence of IPV, many factors affected IPV risk similarly across sites. Secondary education, high SES, and formal marriage offered protection, while alcohol abuse, cohabitation, young age, attitudes supportive of wife beating, having outside sexual partners, experiencing childhood abuse, growing up with domestic violence, and experiencing or perpetrating other forms of violence in adulthood, increased the risk of IPV. The strength of the association was greatest when both the woman and her partner had the risk factor. Conclusions IPV prevention programs should increase focus on transforming gender norms and attitudes, addressing childhood abuse, and reducing harmful drinking. Development initiatives to improve access to education for girls and boys may also have an important role in violence prevention.

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Domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic - Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis

Alex R. Piquero, Wesley G Jennings, Erin Jemison … (2021)

Purpose The aim of this review was to estimate the effect of COVID-19-related restrictions (i.e., stay at home orders, lockdown orders) on reported incidents of domestic violence. Methods A systematic review of articles was conducted in various databases and a meta-analysis was also performed. The search was carried out based on conventional scientific standards that are outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) and studies needed to meet certain criteria. Results Analyses were conducted with a random effects restricted maximum likelihood model. Eighteen empirical studies (and 37 estimates) that met the general inclusion criteria were used. Results showed that most study estimates were indicative of an increase in domestic violence post-lockdowns. The overall mean effect size was 0.66 (CI: 0.08–1.24). The effects were stronger when only US studies were considered. Conclusion Incidents of domestic violence increased in response to stay-at-home/lockdown orders, a finding that is based on several studies from different cities, states, and several countries around the world.