Intimate Partner Violence and Fertility in Early Adulthood

Marissa Landeis , Bowling Green State University
Karen B. Guzzo, Bowling Green State University
Wendy D. Manning, Bowling Green State University
Monica A. Longmore, Bowling Green State University
Peggy C. Giordano, Bowling Green State University

Prior work has suggested that intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with unintended fertility, but because both IPV and unintended fertility are concentrated among young adults, this association may not be causal. Using the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, we examine how IPV experience is related to early parenthood (N = 836). Then, among parents (N = 360), we investigate whether IPV is associated with the probability their first birth is unintended. Preliminary results indicate respondents who have ever experienced IPV have higher odds of becoming parents before age 25. However, among parents, IPV experience at the wave prior to their first birth is unrelated to whether the birth was characterized as unintended. Our results suggest that rather than a causal relationship, IPV and unintended fertility both occur in young adulthood and in unstable relationships. Our work has important implications for targeting young adults who experience both IPV and unintended fertility.

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 Presented in Session 1. Fertility, Family Planning, Sexual Behavior, & Reproductive Health 1