Agreement Between Mother and Father Reports of IPV in a Sample of Child Protection Referred Coparents

Accurate assessment of intimate partner violence (IPV) using standardized measures can be a challenge as there is often discrepancy between partner reports, with previous research indicating very poor concordance between partners using the Conflict Tactics Scale. This study examines agreement betwee...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of interpersonal violence 2023-02, Vol.38 (3-4), p.3489-3512
Main Authors: Stover, Carla S., Shafai, Anahita, Kwinjo, Sharon J., Farren, Angela R., Mazany, Elizabeth, McFaul, Ciara J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agreements
Child
Child Abuse
Child welfare
Children
Cohabitation
Domestic violence
Ethnic relations
Fathers
Female
Humans
Intimate partner violence
Intimate Partner Violence - psychology
Male
Marital status
Mothers - psychology
Substance-Related Disorders
Violence
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Accurate assessment of intimate partner violence (IPV) using standardized measures can be a challenge as there is often discrepancy between partner reports, with previous research indicating very poor concordance between partners using the Conflict Tactics Scale. This study examines agreement between coparent reports of IPV using the Abusive Behavior Inventory (ABI) from 282 coparent dyads referred for Fathers for Change, an IPV intervention by the Department of Children and Families (DCF). Differences in partner concordance using intraclass correlations were examined based on type of violence, marital status/cohabitation, race/ethnicity and substance misuse problems. Intraclass correlations were also calculated for eight power and control items unique to the ABI. Overall agreement between coparents was poor. However, there was greater concordance about mothers’ who have used IPV toward fathers than fathers’ use of IPV toward mothers. There was lower agreement between reports of physical than psychological IPV especially for white coparents. All types of coparent relationships showed low levels of agreement, but cohabiting coparents showed the highest levels of agreement when reporting fathers’ IPV. In cases with one parent exhibiting substance misuse, concordance between reports of IPV increased. Results are consistent with prior findings that women report higher IPV than fathers even when assessments are done in the context of a DCF IPV treatment referral.
ISSN:0886-2605
1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/08862605221107055