Wounded Boys, Violent Men? Exploring Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Violence among Perpetrators with a History of Trauma
- 1Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- 2Department of Basic Psychology, Neuropsychology, and Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Catholic University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Abstract
One of the key challenges for enhancing the effectiveness of intervention programs for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators is tailoring interventions to participants’ specific risks and needs. A history of childhood or adolescent exposure to family violence as either a direct victim or witness has been consistently associated with an increased risk of IPV perpetration in adulthood. This study examined differences between 1,126 court-mandated male IPV perpetrators with and without a history of family violence exposure during childhood or adolescence across sociodemographic, individual, social-relational, attitudinal, and violence-related variables. The study also examined whether trauma history was associated with IPV recidivism risk beyond sociodemographic characteristics and after accounting for individual, social-relational, and attitudinal factors. Compared to perpetrators without trauma exposure, those with a trauma history were younger, had lower educational attainment, included a higher proportion of immigrant participants, and reported higher impulsivity, anger, depressive symptoms, alexithymia, and substance use. They also reported more stressful life events, lower perceived family and friend support, and higher hostile sexism and victim-blaming attitudes. In addition, they reported greater physical and psychological IPV, a more advanced stage of change, and higher risk of IPV recidivism at intake. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses showed that younger age, unemployment, higher impulsivity, and lower perceived family social support were the variables most strongly associated with trauma history. Hierarchical linear regression analyses further revealed that trauma history remained significantly associated with IPV recidivism risk after accounting for covariates. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating trauma-informed strategies into IPV perpetrator interventions.
Related
- Exploring the use of the transtheoretical model in psychiatric nursing counseling for women with schizophrenia experiencing intimate partner violence: A clinical case study from Indonesia
- Perceived Neighborhood Disorder, Social Vulnerability, and Intimate Partner Violence Among Adults over 60
- Psychometric analysis of an intersectional stigma scale for women who have experienced intimate partner violence in Botswana
- Women's empowerment and intimate partner violence among pregnant women in Northern Ghana: evidence from coarsened exact matching and double-selection LASSO analyses
- Within-country ethnic disparities in intimate partner violence against women and associated factors across 37 low- and middle-income countries
BibTeX
@article{expositoalvarez2026wounded,
title = {{Wounded Boys, Violent Men? Exploring Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Violence among Perpetrators with a History of Trauma}},
author = {Cristina Expósito-Álvarez and Rocío Pérez-Sabater and Manuel Roldán-Pardo and Marisol Lila},
journal = {Journal of Child \& Adolescent Trauma},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1007/s40653-026-00942-y},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-026-00942-y},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Wounded Boys, Violent Men? Exploring Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Violence among Perpetrators with a History of Trauma
AU - Cristina Expósito-Álvarez
AU - Rocío Pérez-Sabater
AU - Manuel Roldán-Pardo
AU - Marisol Lila
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/09
JO - Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma
DO - 10.1007/s40653-026-00942-y
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-026-00942-y
AB - One of the key challenges for enhancing the effectiveness of intervention programs for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators is tailoring interventions to participants’ specific risks and needs. A history of childhood or adolescent exposure to family violence as either a direct victim or witness has been consistently associated with an increased risk of IPV perpetration in adulthood. This study examined differences between 1,126 court-mandated male IPV perpetrators with and without a history of family violence exposure during childhood or adolescence across sociodemographic, individual, social-relational, attitudinal, and violence-related variables. The study also examined whether trauma history was associated with IPV recidivism risk beyond sociodemographic characteristics and after accounting for individual, social-relational, and attitudinal factors. Compared to perpetrators without trauma exposure, those with a trauma history were younger, had lower educational attainment, included a higher proportion of immigrant participants, and reported higher impulsivity, anger, depressive symptoms, alexithymia, and substance use. They also reported more stressful life events, lower perceived family and friend support, and higher hostile sexism and victim-blaming attitudes. In addition, they reported greater physical and psychological IPV, a more advanced stage of change, and higher risk of IPV recidivism at intake. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses showed that younger age, unemployment, higher impulsivity, and lower perceived family social support were the variables most strongly associated with trauma history. Hierarchical linear regression analyses further revealed that trauma history remained significantly associated with IPV recidivism risk after accounting for covariates. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating trauma-informed strategies into IPV perpetrator interventions.
SN - 1936-1521
SN - 1936-153X
ER -