How Trauma,Depression,and Gender Roles Lead to Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among a Sample of Predominately Low-Income Black,Indigenous,Men of Color: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Despite decades of research and significant efforts by practitioners and advocates, intimate partner violence (IPV) in the United States remains a public health issue that disproportionately affects racial/ethnic minorities. The lack of mixed methods and qualitative studies, particularly with Black, Indigenous, Men of Color (BIMOC), limits the field’s ability to tease apart the complex, multifaceted aspects of IPV perpetration and minimizes diverse perspectives of how childhood trauma and key proximal factors culminate in IPV perpetration. An explanatory design, follow-up explanations model, was used with a sample of predominately low-income BIMOC in a batterer intervention program (BIP). Associations between IPV and theoretically supported factors (e.g., trauma symptoms, depression, gender roles) were examined using a cross-sectional survey (N = 67) with ordinary least squares regression. Following up, processes explaining how these factors might lead to IPV perpetration were explored using semistructured interviews (N = 11) with narrative analysis. Results indicate that depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms together predict men’s IPV perpetration. Participants’ collective narrative explains how key factors—such as adverse childhood experiences, PTSD, depression, social isolation, anger, and restricted emotionality—work together to culminate in IPV perpetration. Findings shed light on potential trajectories and antecedents that manifest in IPV perpetration, providing implications for practice techniques and program development with low-income BIMOC in BIPs.