Factors associated with increased risk for lethal violence in intimate partner relationships among ethnically diverse black women

Violence Vict. 2014;29(5):719-41. doi: 10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-13-00018.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with increased risk for lethal violence among ethnically diverse Black women in Baltimore, Maryland (MD), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Women with abuse experiences (N = 456) were recruited from primary care, prenatal, or family planning clinics in Baltimore, MD, and St. Thomas and St. Croix. Logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with the risk for lethal violence among abused women. Factors independently related to increased risk of lethal violence included fear of abusive partners, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), symptoms, and use of legal resources. These factors must be considered in assessing safety needs of Black women in abusive relationships.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Baltimore / epidemiology
  • Battered Women / psychology
  • Battered Women / statistics & numerical data*
  • Black or African American / psychology*
  • Black or African American / statistics & numerical data
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Middle Aged
  • Prevalence
  • Risk Factors
  • Spouse Abuse / ethnology*
  • Spouse Abuse / psychology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / ethnology*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • United States Virgin Islands / ethnology
  • Wounds, Gunshot / ethnology*
  • Young Adult