Predicting the psychosocial effects of interpersonal partner violence (IPV). How much does a woman's history of IPV matter?

Women's (N=205) IPV experiences were assessed during their pregnancies, in the year before their pregnancies, and with their previous partners. The study explored whether psychosocial indicators and severity of violence could be predicted from a woman's continuity and history of IPV. Two 4-group classifications-partner (IPV experiences across partners) and time (history of IPV experiences)-and one 2-group classification (IPV or no IPV in the past 6 months) were compared. Both four-group classifications accounted for more variance than did the two-group. Within the four-group classifications, most of the significant differences on psychosocial outcomes and severity of IPV were between the no IPV and chronic IPV groups (IPV experiences with two partners and across three different time periods). However the groups that also fared poorly were those who experienced recent IPV and continuity of IPV across time with their current partners.