Interpersonal Conflict and Physical Abuse in Relation to Pregnancy and Infant Birth Weight

Abstract

Women's experiences of different kinds of abusive behavior by their partners were studied in relation to birth weight of the women's infants and other pregnancy outcome measures. Eighty-four women who delivered a low-birth-weight (<2500 g) infant (cases) and 90 women who delivered an infant with higher birth weight (controls) were interviewed in a case-control study. Information about the partners' behavior during conflicts were obtained by use of a modified Conflict Tactics Scale. Different interpersonal conflict behaviors were categorized as negative verbal interaction or moderate or severe physical abuse. Women who had experienced moderate or severe violence in a relationship also had experienced negative verbal interaction from their partner. Low birth weight was not associated with experiences of any interpersonal conflict behavior in the total sample (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.42-1.37). Among women with a low birth weight infant, mean birth weight was 261 g lower among those who reported any interpersonal conflict behavior during pregnancy. Birth of a low-birth-weight infant was not associated with abuse in a wide sense. Also, such abuse was unassociated with a variety of other complications during pregnancy, lifestyle characteristics, or pregnancy outcome measures.