Citation

Gupta J, Acevedo-Garcia D, Hemenway DA, Decker MR, Raj A, Silverman JG. Am. J. Public Health 2009; 99(3): 462-469.

Affiliation

Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS and Harvard School of Public Health.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2007.120634

PMID

18703450

PMCID

PMC2661447

Abstract

Objectives. We examined associations between premigration political violence exposure and past-year intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration among immigrant men attending community health centers in Boston. Methods. A convenience sample of immigrant men (N=379; aged 18-35 years), largely from the Caribbean and Cape Verde, who attend community health centers, completed an anonymous, cross-sectional survey on risk and protective factors for male-perpetrated IPV and respondents' exposure to political violence. Results. One in 5 (20.1%) immigrant men reported that they were exposed to political violence before arrival in the United States. Men reporting political violence exposure were significantly more likely to report IPV perpetration than were men not reporting such exposure (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=2.84; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.41, 5.74). Significant associations with political violence exposure were observed for both physical (AOR=2.69; 95% CI=1.11, 6.54) and sexual (AOR= 2.37; 95% CI= 1.04, 5.44) IPV perpetration. Conclusions. To our knowledge, our findings document for the first time thesignificant association between premigration politicalviolence exposure and recent IPV perpetration among immigrant men. Additional work is needed toexamine underlying mechanismsto inform culturally appropriate programs.

Language: en