A new Yale-led study published in Journal of Interpersonal Violence concludes that veterans suffer from higher rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) than active-duty service members.
The study, done in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) Naval Health Research Center, used data from military and veteran couples who participated in the DoD’s Millennium Cohort Family Study, the agency’s longest running cohort study of military families.
The study estimated rates of IPV experience (i.e., victimization), IPV use (i.e., perpetration), and bidirectional IPV (i.e., concurrent IPV use and IPV experience). Rates for currently military-affiliated couples were then compared to rates for veteran couples.
Key study takeaways:
- Veterans had comparatively higher percentages of any IPV experience (veteran: 48%, military affiliated: 38%) and any IPV use (veteran: 51%, military affiliated: 36%).
- Even while accounting for demographic differences between veteran and military affiliated couples, veteran couples had a 43% increase in the odds of IPV experience and 67% increase in the odds of IPV use.
- Comparing couples engaged in bidirectional IPV (veteran: 43%, military affiliated: 32%) versus those reporting unidirectional IPV (i.e., either use only or experience only; veteran: 12%, military affiliated: 10%), veterans had a 62% increase in the odds of bidirectional IPV and 119% increase in the odds of unidirectional IPV use compared to military affiliated couples. Unidirectional IPV experience did not differ by current military status.
“We identified consistently higher rates and frequencies of IPV — in terms of both IPV use and IPV experience — and higher rates of bidirectional IPV among veterans who had recently separated from military service, relative to their military counterparts,” said first author Elizabeth C. Coppola, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in biomedical informatics and data science at Yale School of Medicine. “These findings illustrate the need for enhanced supports and services designed to prevent IPV throughout the military-to-civilian transition.”
The researchers said the findings underscore the value of investment in IPV prevention and supportive healthcare system responses for couples separating from military service, and the importance of resources designed to help couples experiencing bidirectional IPV , given its high prevalence.
Senior author was Galina Portnoy, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry. Other Yale contributors were Mark Relyea, PhD, associate research scientist in psychiatry, and Cynthia Brandt, MD, MPH, professor of biomedical informatics and data science. Collaborators at the Naval Health Research Center included research psychologists Travis Ray, PhD and Valerie Stander, PhD.
The study was jointly supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration and by the Defense Health Agency. The Millennium Cohort Family Study is conducted at the Naval Health Research Center, a U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery command, under work unit no. N1240. This research was supported by a VA HSR Career Development Award (CDA 19-234) and by the IPV Center for Implementation, Research, and Evaluation (IPV-CIRE), an IPVAP Innovation Hub that receives funding from VHA’s Care Management and Social Work Service. Coppola’s time was supported by the Advanced Fellowship in Medical Informatics through the VA Office of Academic Affiliations.