Our study began with a complex question: How might childhood maltreatment shape the course of intimate relationships years down the line? For many individuals who have endured childhood maltreatment, the journey to forming safe relationships as adults is layered with challenges. In our recent study published in Molecular Psychiatry, we investigated how experiences of abuse and neglect during childhood could increase the risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization in early adulthood - a period when people often form their first significant intimate relationships. Our findings revealed both shared risk factors between childhood maltreatment and later IPV, as well as a likely causal relationship between the two.

What sparked this research

Psychiatry and psychology have long focused on understanding how childhood maltreatment affects mental health, showing that it can have lasting effects on brain development, stress responses, and emotional regulation. Meanwhile, criminology has documented the phenomenon of “revictimization”—the tendency for those who experience prior victimization (e.g., childhood maltreatment) to face further victimization later in life. However, few studies have linked these strands of research to understand why revictimization happens. Our study took an important step in bridging this gap.

How we did it

To examine the connection between childhood maltreatment and IPV victimization in early adulthood, we focused on two main pathways:

1. Causal risk pathways – Direct effects of childhood maltreatment, such as behavioral or emotional changes that might increase vulnerability to IPV.

2. Common risk pathways – Environmental and genetic factors that might confer vulnerability to both childhood maltreatment and later IPV.

We aimed to address the difficult question of causation, which is challenging in this area since experiments on victimization experiences cannot be conducted, for obvious reasons. We used a genetically informed design, which is particularly robust for making causal inferences in non-experimental studies and has never before been used to study the association between childhood maltreatment and IPV victimization. Using a longitudinal, population-based cohort in the UK, we employed statistical methods that allowed us to examine the overlap in the environmental and genetic risk factors for these experiences, as well as the impact of childhood maltreatment over and above these common risk factors.

What we found

Like previous research, we found that those who experienced childhood maltreatment were at a higher risk of IPV victimization in early adulthood. However, our study identified a more complex picture, revealing that the relationship between childhood maltreatment and later IPV is partly due to shared familial risk factors—both environmental and genetic in origin. Family environment has long been recognized in theories of social learning, but the finding that genetics also plays a role is novel.

How can genetics contribute to revictimization? Our genetic makeup contributes to shaping our personality, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, which influence how we approach relationships. For example, people differ in the way they set boundaries or manage conflict with their partners. These individual differences may influence, for example, how long we stay in a relationship that is undermining our confidence. This does not mean that people are ‘genetically destined’ for victimization, but rather that our genetic makeup can affect our susceptibility to abusive dynamics under certain circumstances.

In addition, we found evidence suggesting that even after accounting for common risk factors, childhood maltreatment may be causally linked to later IPV victimization—though the link is more modest than what has been reported in studies without genetically informed designs. This reinforces the importance of using methods that can account for the different risk factors for revictimization.

Why this matters

One key takeaway is that those who experienced childhood maltreatment could benefit from early support for building healthy and safe intimate relationships, ideally before they enter their first intimate relationships. Prevention efforts for IPV should include both perpetrator-focused interventions and support strategies for those who are vulnerable to victimization – particularly those with a history of childhood maltreatment.

The emphasis on individual differences in risk for victimization does not mean placing the responsibility to avoid victimization on the individuals themselves. Instead, it recognizes the need for nuanced, evidence-based interventions that address the full spectrum of risk factors for IPV, including systemic and individual risk factors alike. While systemic factors like economic inequality are well-documented as contributors to IPV, our research shows that individual-level vulnerabilities also play a role. Understanding such individual differences allows us to design prevention strategies that are both comprehensive and tailored to those who are most vulnerable. For example, improving mental health provision for those with a history of maltreatment can be an important strategy to support them in developing safe intimate relationships.

Moving forward, we plan to investigate further the psychological factors that contribute to the connection between childhood maltreatment and relationship challenges later in life, laying the groundwork for early intervention aimed to break cycles of victimization.

Our study, titled “Causal and common risk pathways linking childhood maltreatment to later intimate partner violence victimization”, is published open access in Molecular Psychiatry. You can read it at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-024-02813-0

Poster image credit:  SHVETS production  on pexels.com