Veteran couples experience higher rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) than currently serving military couples, according to a new Yale study that examined the often-vulnerable period following separation from military service, known as the military-to-civilian transition.
The findings, published in Psychology of Violence, persisted even when accounting for other sources of stress often experienced by newly discharged veterans, including housing instability, financial strain, low social support, and underemployment.
IPV is characterized by threatened or actual physical, sexual, or psychological abuse from a current or former partner. It has been linked to a range of physical and mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, suicide, and homicide.
The research team, led by first author Elizabeth Coppola, PhD, associate research scientist in biomedical informatics and data science, used survey data from a panel of United States veterans, service members, and their spouses. The results showed that 55% of veteran couples experienced IPV compared to 42% of currently serving couples.
Veteran couples reported higher average financial strain than currently serving couples, according to the study. Veterans reported less social support and lower rates of full-time employment than current service members. Spouses of veterans were more likely to have full-time employment than spouses of current service members.
Differences in rates of IPV between currently serving and veteran couples were partially accounted for by lower financial stability among veteran couples, and a lack of social support reported by veterans, the researchers concluded.
Researchers say the findings suggest instances of IPV may be prevented with targeted approaches aiming to reduce financial strain among veteran couples and to bolster social support for veterans throughout the military-to-civilian transition.
“The military-to-civilian transition has been previously identified as a risky period for suicide; results from this study suggest that couples may also experience an increased risk of IPV during this period,” Coppola says.
Increased collaboration between the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in the form of warm handovers, or direct, person-to-person connections from DoD to VA programs and resources, with increased provisioning to strengthen social support and financial stability may prevent IPV among veterans as they transition to civilian life, Coppola says.
Other Yale faculty contributing to the study were senior author Galina Portnoy, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry; Mark Relyea, PhD, associate research scientist in psychiatry; and Cynthia Brandt, MD, MPH, professor of biomedical informatics and data science. Contributors at the DoD’s Naval Health Research Center include research psychologists Valerie Stander, PhD, and Travis Ray, PhD.