Seeing Violence Differently: Gendered Patterns of Parental Intimate Partner Violence and Adolescent Outcomes

Growing up in a household with intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with a range of adverse behavioral and relational outcomes during adolescence and across the life course. Less is known about how caregiver gender and type of IPV shape these outcomes, or whether associations differ by adolescents’ race/ethnicity and sex assigned at birth. We used data from 2,437 adolescents (1,178 girls, 1,259 boys) from Waves 3 to 6 (ages 3-15) of the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Using survey-weighted linear regression and moderation analyses, we examined associations between maternal and paternal IPV during childhood and adolescent delinquency, aggression, and teen dating violence (TDV). In adjusted models, paternal physical IPV and maternal controlling IPV were each associated with higher levels of adolescent aggression, as was childhood physical abuse. Parental IPV was not significantly associated with adolescent delinquency or TDV. However, girls whose mothers experienced physical IPV were less likely to report physical TDV victimization compared to girls whose mothers did not. Moderation analyses indicated that Black adolescents whose mothers experienced controlling IPV had lower aggression scores than their White counterparts. These findings highlight the importance of considering caregiver gender and IPV type in assessing adolescent risk. Interventions for youth exposed to IPV may benefit from screening for co-occurring family risks, including child maltreatment, addressing gender-specific needs, and strengthening caregiver access to prevention and support services.