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Domestic violence research topics.

The list of domestic violence research paper topics below will show that domestic violence takes on many forms. Through recent scientific study, it is now known that domestic violence occurs within different types of households. The purpose of creating this list is for students to have available a comprehensive, state-of-the-research, easy-to-read compilation of a wide variety of domestic violence topics and provide research paper examples on those topics.

Domestic violence research paper topics can be divided into seven categories:

• Victims of domestic violence,
• Theoretical perspectives and correlates to domestic violence,
• Cross-cultural and religious perspectives,
• Understudied areas within domestic violence research,
• Domestic violence and the law,
• Child abuse and elder abuse, and
• Special topics in domestic violence.

100+ Domestic Violence Research Topics

Victims of domestic violence.

Initial research recognized wives as victims of domestic violence. Thereafter, it was acknowledged that unmarried women were also falling victim to violence at the hands of their boyfriends. Subsequently, the term ‘‘battered women’’ became synonymous with ‘‘battered wives.’’ Legitimizing female victimization served as the catalyst in introducing other types of intimate partner violence.

• Battered Husbands
• Battered Wives
• Battered Women: Held in Captivity
• Battered Women Who Kill: An Examination
• Cohabiting Violence
• Dating Violence
• Domestic Violence in Workplace
• Intimate Partner Homicide
• Intimate Partner Violence, Forms of
• Marital Rape
• Mutual Battering
• Spousal Prostitution

Read more about victims of domestic violence .

Part 2: Research Paper Topics on

Theoretical Perspectives and Correlates to Domestic Violence

There is no single causal factor related to domestic violence. Rather, scholars have concluded that there are numerous factors that contribute to domestic violence. Feminists found that women were beaten at the hands of their partners. Drawing on feminist theory, they helped explain the relationship between patriarchy and domestic violence. Researchers have examined other theoretical perspectives such as attachment theory, exchange theory, identity theory, the cycle of violence, social learning theory, and victim-blaming theory in explaining domestic violence. However, factors exist that may not fall into a single theoretical perspective. Correlates have shown that certain factors such as pregnancy, social class, level of education, animal abuse, and substance abuse may influence the likelihood for victimization.

• Animal Abuse: The Link to Family Violence
• Assessing Risk in Domestic Violence Cases
• Attachment Theory and Domestic Violence
• Battered Woman Syndrome
• Batterer Typology
• Bullying and the Family
• Coercive Control
• Control Balance Theory and Domestic Violence
• Cycle of Violence
• Depression and Domestic Violence
• Education as a Risk Factor for Domestic Violence
• Exchange Theory
• Feminist Theory
• Identity Theory and Domestic Violence
• Intergenerational Transfer of Intimate Partner Violence
• Popular Culture and Domestic Violence
• Post-Incest Syndrome
• Pregnancy-Related Violence
• Social Class and Domestic Violence
• Social Learning Theory and Family Violence
• Stockholm Syndrome in Battered Women
• Substance Use/Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence
• The Impact of Homelessness on Family Violence
• Victim-Blaming Theory

Read more about domestic violence theories .

Part 3: Research Paper Topics on

Cross-Cultural and Religious Perspectives on Domestic Violence

It was essential to acknowledge that domestic violence crosses cultural boundaries and religious affiliations. There is no one particular society or religious group exempt from victimization. A variety of developed and developing countries were examined in understanding the prevalence of domestic violence within their societies as well as their coping strategies in handling these volatile issues. It is often misunderstood that one religious group is more tolerant of family violence than another. As Christianity, Islam, and Judaism represent the three major religions of the world, their ideologies were explored in relation to the acceptance and prevalence of domestic violence.

• Africa: Domestic Violence and the Law
• Africa: The Criminal Justice System and the Problem of Domestic Violence in West Africa
• Asian Americans and Domestic Violence: Cultural Dimensions
• Child Abuse: A Global Perspective
• Christianity and Domestic Violence
• Cross-Cultural Examination of Domestic Violence in China and Pakistan
• Cross-Cultural Examination of Domestic Violence in Latin America
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Domestic Violence
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on How to Deal with Batterers
• Dating Violence among African American Couples
• Domestic Violence among Native Americans
• Domestic Violence in African American Community
• Domestic Violence in Greece
• Domestic Violence in Rural Communities
• Domestic Violence in South Africa
• Domestic Violence in Spain
• Domestic Violence in Trinidad and Tobago
• Domestic Violence within the Jewish Community
• Human Rights, Refugee Laws, and Asylum Protection for People Fleeing Domestic Violence
• Introduction to Minorities and Families in America
• Medical Neglect Related to Religion and Culture
• Multicultural Programs for Domestic Batterers
• Qur’anic Perspectives on Wife Abuse
• Religious Attitudes toward Corporal Punishment
• Rule of Thumb
• Same-Sex Domestic Violence: Comparing Venezuela and the United States
• Worldwide Sociolegal Precedents Supporting Domestic Violence from Ancient to Modern Times

Part 4: Research Paper Topics on

Understudied Areas within Domestic Violence Research

Domestic violence has typically examined traditional relationships, such as husband–wife, boyfriend–girlfriend, and parent–child. Consequently, scholars have historically ignored non-traditional relationships. In fact, certain entries have limited cross-references based on the fact that there were limited, if any, scholarly publications on that topic. Only since the 1990s have scholars admitted that violence exists among lesbians and gay males. There are other ignored populations that are addressed within this encyclopedia including violence within military and police families, violence within pseudo-family environments, and violence against women and children with disabilities.

• Caregiver Violence against People with Disabilities
• Community Response to Gay and Lesbian Domestic Violence
• Compassionate Homicide and Spousal Violence
• Domestic Violence against Women with Disabilities
• Domestic Violence by Law Enforcement Officers
• Domestic Violence within Military Families
• Factors Influencing Reporting Behavior by Male Domestic Violence Victims
• Gay and Bisexual Male Domestic Violence
• Gender Socialization and Gay Male Domestic Violence
• Inmate Mothers: Treatment and Policy Implications
• Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Retardation
• Intimate Partner Violence in Queer, Transgender, and Bisexual Communities
• Lesbian Battering
• Male Victims of Domestic Violence and Reasons They Stay with Their Abusers
• Medicalization of Domestic Violence
• Police Attitudes and Behaviors toward Gay Domestic Violence
• Pseudo-Family Abuse
• Sexual Aggression Perpetrated by Females
• Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: The Need for Education in Servicing Victims of Trauma

Part 5: Research Paper Topics on

Domestic Violence and the Law

The Violence against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 helped pave domestic violence concerns into legislative matters. Historically, family violence was handled through informal measures often resulting in mishandling of cases. Through VAWA, victims were given the opportunity to have their cases legally remedied. This legitimized the separation of specialized domestic and family violence courts from criminal courts. The law has recognized that victims of domestic violence deserve recognition and resolution. Law enforcement agencies may be held civilly accountable for their actions in domestic violence incidents. Mandatory arrest policies have been initiated helping reduce discretionary power of police officers. Courts have also begun to focus on the offenders of domestic violence. Currently, there are batterer intervention programs and mediation programs available for offenders within certain jurisdictions. Its goals are to reduce the rate of recidivism among batterers.

• Battered Woman Syndrome as a Legal Defense in Cases of Spousal Homicide
• Batterer Intervention Programs
• Clemency for Battered Women
• Divorce, Child Custody, and Domestic Violence
• Domestic Violence Courts
• Electronic Monitoring of Abusers
• Expert Testimony in Domestic Violence Cases
• Judicial Perspectives on Domestic Violence
• Lautenberg Law
• Legal Issues for Battered Women
• Mandatory Arrest Policies
• Mediation in Domestic Violence
• Police Civil Liability in Domestic Violence Incidents
• Police Decision-Making Factors in Domestic Violence Cases
• Police Response to Domestic Violence Incidents
• Prosecution of Child Abuse and Neglect
• Protective and Restraining Orders
• Shelter Movement
• Training Practices for Law Enforcement in Domestic Violence Cases
• Violence against Women Act

Read more about Domestic Violence Law .

Part 6: Research Paper Topics on

Child Abuse and Elder Abuse

Scholars began to address child abuse over the last third of the twentieth century. It is now recognized that child abuse falls within a wide spectrum. In the past, it was based on visible bruises and scars. Today, researchers have acknowledged that psychological abuse, where there are no visible injuries, is just as damaging as its counterpart. One of the greatest controversies in child abuse literature is that of Munchausen by Proxy. Some scholars have recognized that it is a syndrome while others would deny a syndrome exists. Regardless of the term ‘‘syndrome,’’ Munchausen by Proxy does exist and needs to be further examined. Another form of violence that needs to be further examined is elder abuse. Elder abuse literature typically focused on abuse perpetrated by children and caregivers. With increased life expectancies, it is now understood that there is greater probability for violence among elderly intimate couples. Shelters and hospitals need to better understand this unique population in order to better serve its victims.

• Assessing the Risks of Elder Abuse
• Child Abuse and Juvenile Delinquency
• Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States: An Overview
• Child Maltreatment, Interviewing Suspected Victims of
• Child Neglect
• Child Sexual Abuse
• Children Witnessing Parental Violence
• Consequences of Elder Abuse
• Elder Abuse and Neglect: Training Issues for Professionals
• Elder Abuse by Intimate Partners
• Elder Abuse Perpetrated by Adult Children
• Filicide and Children with Disabilities
• Mothers Who Kill
• Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome
• Parental Abduction
• Postpartum Depression, Psychosis, and Infanticide
• Ritual Abuse–Torture in Families
• Shaken Baby Syndrome
• Sibling Abuse

Part 7: Research Paper Topics on

Special Topics  in Domestic Violence

Within this list, there are topics that may not fit clearly into one of the aforementioned categories. Therefore, they are be listed in a separate special topics designation. Analyzing Incidents of Domestic Violence: The National Incident-Based Reporting System

• Community Response to Domestic Violence
• Conflict Tactics Scales
• Dissociation in Domestic Violence, The Role of
• Domestic Homicide in Urban Centers: New York City
• Fatality Reviews in Cases of Adult Domestic Homicide and Suicide
• Female Suicide and Domestic Violence
• Healthcare Professionals’ Roles in Identifying and Responding to Domestic Violence
• Measuring Domestic Violence
• Neurological and Physiological Impact of Abuse
• Social, Economic, and Psychological Costs of Violence
• Stages of Leaving Abusive Relationships
• The Physical and Psychological Impact of Spousal Abuse

Domestic violence remains a relatively new field of study among social scientists but it is already a popular research paper subject within college and university students. Only within the past 4 decades have scholars recognized domestic violence as a social problem. Initially, domestic violence research focused on child abuse. Thereafter, researchers focused on wife abuse and used this concept interchangeably with domestic violence. Within the past 20 years, researchers have acknowledged that other forms of violent relationships exist, including dating violence, battered males, and gay domestic violence. Moreover, academicians have recognized a subcategory within the field of criminal justice: victimology (the scientific study of victims). Throughout the United States, colleges and universities have been creating victimology courses, and even more specifically, family violence and interpersonal violence courses.

The media have informed us that domestic violence is so commonplace that the public has unfortunately grown accustomed to reading and hearing about husbands killing their wives, mothers killing their children, or parents neglecting their children. While it is understood that these offenses take place, the explanations as to what factors contributed to them remain unclear. In order to prevent future violence, it is imperative to understand its roots. There is no one causal explanation for domestic violence; however, there are numerous factors which may help explain these unjustified acts of violence. Highly publicized cases such as the O.J. Simpson and Scott Peterson trials have shown the world that alleged murderers may not resemble the deranged sociopath depicted in horror films. Rather, they can be handsome, charming, and well-liked by society. In addition, court-centered programming on television continuously publicizes cases of violence within the home informing the public that we are potentially at risk by our caregivers and other loved ones. There is the case of the au pair Elizabeth Woodward convicted of shaking and killing Matthew Eappen, the child entrusted to her care. Some of the most highly publicized cases have also focused on mothers who kill. America was stunned as it heard the cases of Susan Smith and Andrea Yates. Both women were convicted of brutally killing their own children. Many asked how loving mothers could turn into cold-blooded killers.

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Research & Evidence

NRCDV works to strengthen researcher/practitioner collaborations that advance the field’s knowledge of, access to, and input in research that informs policy and practice at all levels. We also identify and develop guidance and tools to help domestic violence programs and coalitions better evaluate their work, including by using participatory action research approaches that directly tap the diverse expertise of a community to frame and guide evaluation efforts.

Safety & Privacy in a Digital World

Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence  

Teen Dating Violence

Housing and Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence in LGBTQ Communities

Trans and Non-Binary Survivors

The Difference Between Surviving & Not Surviving

Earned Income Tax Credit & Other Tax Credits

For an extensive list of research & evidence materials check out the research & statistics section on VAWnet

The Domestic Violence Evidence Project (DVEP) is a multi-faceted, multi-year and highly collaborative effort designed to assist state coalitions, local domestic violence programs, researchers, and other allied individuals and organizations better respond to the growing emphasis on identifying and integrating evidence-based practice into their work. DVEP brings together research, evaluation, practice and theory to inform critical thinking and enhance the field's knowledge to better serve survivors and their families.

The Community Based Participatory Research Toolkit  (CBPR) is for researchers and practitioners across disciplines and social locations who are working in academic, policy, community, or practice-based settings. In particular, the toolkit provides support to emerging researchers as they consider whether and how to take a CBPR approach and what it might mean in the context of their professional roles and settings. Domestic violence advocates will also find useful information on the CBPR approach and how it can help answer important questions about your work.

For over two decades, the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence has operated  VAWnet , an online library focused on violence against women and other forms of gender-based violence.  VAWnet.org  has long been identified as an unparalleled, comprehensive, go-to source of information and resources for anti-violence advocates, human service professionals, educators, faith leaders, and others interested in ending domestic and sexual violence.

Safe Housing Partnerships , the website of the Domestic Violence and Housing Technical Assistance Consortium , includes the latest research and evidence on the intersection of domestic and sexual violence, housing, and homelessness. You can also find new research exploring different aspects of efforts to expand housing options for domestic and sexual violence survivors, including the use of flexible funding approaches, DV Housing First and rapid rehousing, DV Transitional Housing, and mobile advocacy.

• Open access
• Published: 20 June 2023

A qualitative quantitative mixed methods study of domestic violence against women

• Mina Shayestefar 1 ,
• Mohadese Saffari 1 ,
• Razieh Gholamhosseinzadeh 2 ,
• Monir Nobahar 3 , 4 ,
• Majid Mirmohammadkhani 4 ,
• Seyed Hossein Shahcheragh 5 &
• Zahra Khosravi 6  

BMC Women's Health volume  23 , Article number:  322 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Violence against women is one of the most widespread, persistent and detrimental violations of human rights in today’s world, which has not been reported in most cases due to impunity, silence, stigma and shame, even in the age of social communication. Domestic violence against women harms individuals, families, and society. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and experiences of domestic violence against women in Semnan.

This study was conducted as mixed research (cross-sectional descriptive and phenomenological qualitative methods) to investigate domestic violence against women, and some related factors (quantitative) and experiences of such violence (qualitative) simultaneously in Semnan. In quantitative study, cluster sampling was conducted based on the areas covered by health centers from married women living in Semnan since March 2021 to March 2022 using Domestic Violence Questionnaire. Then, the obtained data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. In qualitative study by phenomenological approach and purposive sampling until data saturation, 9 women were selected who had referred to the counseling units of Semnan health centers due to domestic violence, since March 2021 to March 2022 and in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The conducted interviews were analyzed using Colaizzi’s 7-step method.

In qualitative study, seven themes were found including “Facilitators”, “Role failure”, “Repressors”, “Efforts to preserve the family”, “Inappropriate solving of family conflicts”, “Consequences”, and “Inefficient supportive systems”. In quantitative study, the variables of age, age difference and number of years of marriage had a positive and significant relationship, and the variable of the number of children had a negative and significant relationship with the total score and all fields of the questionnaire (p < 0.05). Also, increasing the level of female education and income both independently showed a significant relationship with increasing the score of violence.

Conclusions

Some of the variables of violence against women are known and the need for prevention and plans to take action before their occurrence is well felt. Also, supportive mechanisms with objective and taboo-breaking results should be implemented to minimize harm to women, and their children and families seriously.

Peer Review reports

Violence against women by husbands (physical, sexual and psychological violence) is one of the basic problems of public health and violation of women’s human rights. It is estimated that 35% of women and almost one out of every three women aged 15–49 experience physical or sexual violence by their spouse or non-spouse sexual violence in their lifetime [ 1 ]. This is a nationwide public health issue, and nearly every healthcare worker will encounter a patient who has suffered from some type of domestic or family violence. Unfortunately, different forms of family violence are often interconnected. The “cycle of abuse” frequently persists from children who witness it to their adult relationships, and ultimately to the care of the elderly [ 2 ]. This violence includes a range of physical, sexual and psychological actions, control, threats, aggression, abuse, and rape [ 3 ].

Violence against women is one of the most widespread, persistent, and detrimental violations of human rights in today’s world, which has not been reported in most cases due to impunity, silence, stigma and shame, even in the age of social communication [ 3 ]. In the United States of America, more than one in three women (35.6%) experience rape, physical violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV) during their lifetime. Compared to men, women are nearly twice as likely (13.8% vs. 24.3%) to experience severe physical violence such as choking, burns, and threats with knives or guns [ 4 ]. The higher prevalence of violence against women can be due to the situational deprivation of women in patriarchal societies [ 5 ]. The prevalence of domestic violence in Iran reported 22.9%. The maximum of prevalence estimated in Tehran and Zahedan, respectively [ 6 ]. Currently, Iran has high levels of violence against women, and the provinces with the highest rates of unemployment and poverty also have the highest levels of violence against women [ 7 ].

Domestic violence against women harms individuals, families, and society [ 8 ]. Violence against women leads to physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, including threats, coercion and arbitrary deprivation of their freedom in public and private life. Also, such violence is associated with harmful effects on women’s sexual reproductive health, including sexually transmitted infection such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), abortion, unsafe childbirth, and risky sexual behaviors [ 9 ]. There are high levels of psychological, sexual and physical domestic abuse among pregnant women [ 10 ]. Also, women with postpartum depression are significantly more likely to experience domestic violence during pregnancy [ 11 ].

Prompt attention to women’s health and rights at all levels is necessary, which reduces this problem and its risk factors [ 12 ]. Because women prefer to remain silent about domestic violence and there is a need to introduce immediate prevention programs to end domestic violence [ 13 ]. violence against women, which is an important public health problem, and concerns about human rights require careful study and the application of appropriate policies [ 14 ]. Also, the efforts to change the circumstances in which women face domestic violence remain significantly insufficient [ 15 ]. Given that few clear studies on violence against women and at the same time interviews with these people regarding their life experiences are available, the authors attempted to planning this research aims to investigate the prevalence and experiences of domestic violence against women in Semnan with the research question of “What is the prevalence of domestic violence against women in Semnan, and what are their experiences of such violence?”, so that their results can be used in part of the future planning in the health system of the society.

This study is a combination of cross-sectional and phenomenology studies in order to investigate the amount of domestic violence against women and some related factors (quantitative) and their experience of this violence (qualitative) simultaneously in the Semnan city. This study has been approved by the ethics committee of Semnan University of Medical Sciences with ethic code of IR.SEMUMS.REC.1397.182. The researcher introduced herself to the research participants, explained the purpose of the study, and then obtained informed written consent. It was assured to the research units that the collected information will be anonymous and kept confidential. The participants were informed that participation in the study was entirely voluntary, so they can withdraw from the study at any time with confidence. The participants were notified that more than one interview session may be necessary. To increase the trustworthiness of the study, Guba and Lincoln’s criteria for rigor, including credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability [ 16 ], were applied throughout the research process. The COREQ checklist was used to assess the present study quality. The researchers used observational notes for reflexivity and it preserved in all phases of this qualitative research process.

Qualitative method

Based on the phenomenological approach and with the purposeful sampling method, nine women who had referred to the counseling units of healthcare centers in Semnan city due to domestic violence in February 2021 to March 2022 were participated in the present study. The inclusion criteria for the study included marriage, a history of visiting a health center consultant due to domestic violence, and consent to participate in the study and unwillingness to participate in the study was the exclusion criteria. Each participant invited to the study by a telephone conversation about study aims and researcher information. The interviews place selected through agreement of the participant and the researcher and a place with the least environmental disturbance. Before starting each interview, the informed consent and all of the ethical considerations, including the purpose of the research, voluntary participation, confidentiality of the information were completely explained and they were asked to sign the written consent form. The participants were interviewed by depth, semi-structured and face-to-face interviews based on the main research question. Interviews were conducted by a female health services researcher with a background in nursing (M.Sh.). Data collection was continued until the data saturation and no new data appeared. Only the participants and the researcher were present during the interviews. All interviews were recorded by a MP3 Player by permission of the participants before starting. Interviews were not repeated. No additional field notes were taken during or after the interview.

The age range of the participants was from 38 to 55 years and their average age was 40 years. The sociodemographic characteristics of the participants are summarized in table below (Table  1 ).

Five interviews in the courtyards of healthcare centers, 2 interviews in the park, and 2 interviews at the participants’ homes were conducted. The duration of the interviews varied from 45 min to one hour. The main research question was “What is your experience about domestic violence?“. According to the research progress some other questions were asked in line with the main question of the research.

The conducted interviews were analyzed by using the 7 steps Colizzi’s method [ 17 ]. In order to empathize with the participants, each interview was read several times and transcribed. Then two researchers (M.Sh. and M.N.) extracted the phrases that were directly related to the phenomenon of domestic violence against women independently and distinguished from other sentences by underlining them. Then these codes were organized into thematic clusters and the formulated concepts were sorted into specific thematic categories.

In the final stage, in order to make the data reliable, the researcher again referred to 2 participants and checked their agreement with their perceptions of the content. Also, possible important contents were discussed and clarified, and in this way, agreement and approval of the samples was obtained.

Quantitative method

The cross-sectional study was implemented from February 2021 to March 2022 with cluster sampling of married women in areas of 3 healthcare centers in Semnan city. Those participants who were married and agreed with the written and verbal informed consent about the ethical considerations were included to the study. The questionnaire was completed by the participants in paper and online form.

The instrument was the standard questionnaire of domestic violence against women by Mohseni Tabrizi et al. [ 18 ]. In the questionnaire, questions 1–10, 11–36, 37–65 and 66–71 related to sociodemographic information, types of spousal abuse (psychological, economical, physical and sexual violence), patriarchal beliefs and traditions and family upbringing and learning violence, respectively. In total, this questionnaire has 71 items.

The scoring of the questionnaire has two parts and the answers to them are based on the Likert scale. Questions 11–36 and 66–71 are answered with always [ 4 ] to never (0) and questions 37–65 with completely agree [ 4 ] to completely disagree (0). The minimum and maximum score is 0 and 300, respectively. The total score of 0–60, 61–120 and higher than 121 demonstrates low, moderate and severe domestic violence against women, respectively [ 18 ].

In the study by Tabrizi et al., to evaluate the validity and reliability of this questionnaire, researchers tried to measure the face validity of the scale by the previous research. Those items and questions which their accuracies were confirmed by social science professors and experts used in the research, finally. The total Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.183, which confirmed that the reliability of the questions and items of the questionnaire is sufficient [ 18 ].

Descriptive data were reported using mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage. Then, to measure the relationship between the variables, χ2 and Pearson tests also variance and regression analysis were performed. All analysis were performed by using SPSS version 26 and the significance level was considered as p < 0.05.

Qualitative results

According to the third step of Colaizzi’s 7-step method, the researcher attempted to conceptualize and formulate the extracted meanings. In this step, the primary codes were extracted from the important sentences related to the phenomenon of violence against women, which were marked by underlining, which are shown below as examples of this stage and coding.

The primary code of indifference to the father’s role was extracted from the following sentences. This is indifference in the role of the father in front of the children.

“Some time ago, I told him that our daughter is single-sided deaf. She has a doctor’s appointment; I have to take her to the doctor. He said that I don’t have money to give you. He doesn’t force himself to make money anyway” (p 2, 33 yrs).

“He didn’t value his own children. He didn’t think about his older children” (p 4, 54 yrs).

The primary code extracted here included lack of commitment in the role of head of the household. This is irresponsibility towards the family and meeting their needs.

“My husband was fired from work after 10 years due to disorder and laziness. Since then, he has not found a suitable job. Every time he went to work, he was fired after a month because of laziness” (p 7, 55 yrs).

“In the evening, he used to get dressed and go out, and he didn’t come back until late. Some nights, I was so afraid of being alone that I put a knife under my pillow when I slept” (p 2, 33 yrs).

A total of 246 primary codes were extracted from the interviews in the third step. In the fourth step, the researchers put the formulated concepts (primary codes) into 85 specific sub-categories.

Twenty-three categories were extracted from 85 sub-categories. In the sixth step, the concepts of the fifth step were integrated and formed seven themes (Table  2 ).

These themes included “Facilitators”, “Role failure”, “Repressors”, “Efforts to preserve the family”, “Inappropriate solving of family conflicts”, “Consequences”, and “Inefficient supportive systems” (Fig.  1 ).

Themes of domestic violence against women

Some of the statements of the participants on the theme of “ Facilitators” are listed below:

Husband’s criminal record

“He got his death sentence for drugs. But, at last it was ended for 10 years” (p 4, 54 yrs).

Inappropriate age for marriage

“At the age of thirteen, I married a boy who was 25 years old” (p 8, 25 yrs).

“My first husband obeyed her parents. I was 12–13 years old” (p 3, 32 yrs).

“I couldn’t do anything. I was humiliated” (p 1, 38 yrs).

“A bridegroom came. The mother was against. She said, I am young. My older sister is not married yet, but I was eager to get married. I don’t know, maybe my father’s house was boring for me” (p 2, 33 yrs).

“My parents used to argue badly. They blamed each other and I always wanted to run away from these arguments. I didn’t have the patience to talk to mom or dad and calm them down” (p 5, 39 yrs).

Overdependence

“My husband’s parents don’t stop interfering, but my husband doesn’t say anything because he is a student of his father. My husband is self-employed and works with his father on a truck” (p 8, 25 yrs).

“Every time I argue with my husband because of lack of money, my mother-in-law supported her son and brought him up very spoiled and lazy” (p 7, 55 yrs).

Bitter memories

“After three years, my mother married her friend with my uncle’s insistence and went to Shiraz. But, his condition was that she did not have the right to bring his daughter with her. In fact, my mother also got married out of necessity” (p 8, 25 yrs).

Some of their other statements related to “ Role failure” are mentioned below:

Lack of commitment to different roles

“I got angry several times and went to my father’s house because of my husband’s bad financial status and the fact that he doesn’t feel responsible to work and always says that he cannot find a job” (p 6, 48 yrs).

“I saw that he does not want to change in any way” (p 4, 54 yrs).

“No matter how kind I am, it does not work” (p 1, 38 yrs).

Some of their other statements regarding “ Repressors” are listed below:

Fear and silence

“My mother always forced me to continue living with my husband. Finally, my father had been poor. She all said that you didn’t listen to me when you wanted to get married, so you don’t have the right to get angry and come to me, I’m miserable enough” (p 2, 33 yrs).

“Because I suffered a lot in my first marital life. I was very humiliated. I said I would be fine with that. To be kind” (p1, 38 yrs).

“Well, I tell myself that he gets angry sometimes” (p 3, 32 yrs).

Shame from society

“I don’t want my daughter-in-law to know. She is not a relative” (p 4, 54 yrs).

Some of the statements of the participants regarding the theme of “ Efforts to preserve the family” are listed below:

Hope and trust

“I always hope in God and I am patient” (p 2, 33 yrs).

Efforts for children

“My divorce took a month. We got a divorce. I forgave my dowry and took my children instead” (p 2, 33 yrs).

Some of their other statements regarding the “ Inappropriate solving of family conflicts” are listed below:

Child-bearing thoughts

“My husband wanted to take me to a doctor to treat me. But my father-in-law refused and said that instead of doing this and spending money, marry again. Marriage in the clans was much easier than any other work” (p 8, 25 yrs).

Lack of effective communication

“I was nervous about him, but I didn’t say anything” (p 5, 39 yrs).

“Now I am satisfied with my life and thank God it is better to listen to people’s words. Now there is someone above me so that people don’t talk behind me” (p 2, 33 yrs).

Some of their other statements regarding the “ Consequences” are listed below:

Harm to children

“My eldest daughter, who was about 7–8 years old, behaved differently. Oh, I was angry. My children are mentally depressed and argue” (p 5, 39 yrs).

After divorce

“Even though I got a divorce, my mother and I came to a remote area due to the fear of what my family would say” (p 2, 33 yrs).

Social harm

“I work at a retirement center for living expenses” (p 2, 33 yrs).

“I had to go to clean the houses” (p 5, 39 yrs).

Non-acceptance in the family

“The children’s relationship with their father became bad. Because every time they saw their father sitting at home smoking, they got angry” (p 7, 55 yrs).

Emotional harm

“When I look back, I regret why I was not careful in my choice” (p 7, 55 yrs).

“I felt very bad. For being married to a man who is not bound by the family and is capricious” (p 9, 36 yrs).

Some of their other statements regarding “ Inefficient supportive systems” are listed below:

Inappropriate family support

“We didn’t have children. I was at my father’s house for about a month. After a month, when I came home, I saw that my husband had married again. I cried a lot that day. He said, God, I had to. I love you. My heart is broken, I have no one to share my words” (p 8, 25 yrs).

“My brother-in-law was like himself. His parents had also died. His sister did not listen at all” (p 4, 54 yrs).

“I didn’t have anyone and I was alone” (p 1, 38 yrs).

Inefficiency of social systems

“That day he argued with me, picked me up and threw me down some stairs in the middle of the yard. He came closer, sat on my stomach, grabbed my neck with both of his hands and wanted to strangle me. Until a long time later, I had kidney problems and my neck was bruised by her hand. Given that my aunt and her family were with us in a building, but she had no desire to testify and was afraid” (p 3, 32 yrs).

Undesired training and advice

“I told my mother, you just said no, how old I was? You never insisted on me and you didn’t listen to me that this man is not good for you” (p 9, 36 yrs).

Quantitative results

In the present study, 376 married women living in Semnan city participated in this study. The mean age of participants was 38.52 ± 10.38 years. The youngest participant was 18 and the oldest was 73 years old. The maximum age difference was 16 years. The years of marriage varied from one year to 40 years. Also, the number of children varied from no children to 7. The majority of them had 2 children (109, 29%). The sociodemographic characteristics of the participants are summarized in the table below (Table  3 ).

The frequency distribution (number and percentage) of the participants in terms of the level of violence was as follows. 89 participants (23.7%) had experienced low violence, 59 participants (15.7%) had experienced moderate violence, and 228 participants (60.6%) had experienced severe violence.

Cronbach’s alpha for the reliability of the questionnaire was 0.988. The mean and standard deviation of the total score of the questionnaire was 143.60 ± 74.70 with a range of 3-244. The relationship between the total score of the questionnaire and its fields, and some demographic variables is summarized in the table below (Table  4 ).

As shown in the table above, the variables of age, age difference and number of years of marriage have a positive and significant relationship, and the variable of number of children has a negative and significant relationship with the total score and all fields of the questionnaire (p < 0.05). However, the variable of education level difference showed no significant relationship with the total score and any of the fields. Also, the highest average score is related to patriarchal beliefs compared to other fields.

The comparison of the average total scores separately according to each variable showed the significant average difference in the variables of the previous marriage history of the woman, the result of the previous marriage of the woman, the education of the woman, the education of the man, the income of the woman, the income of the man, and the physical disease of the man (p < 0.05).

In the regression model, two variables remained in the final model, indicating the relationship between the variables and violence score and the importance of these two variables. An increase in women’s education and income level both independently show a significant relationship with an increase in violence score (Table  5 ).

The results of analysis of variance to compare the scores of each field of violence in the subgroups of the participants also showed that the experience and result of the woman’s previous marriage has a significant relationship with physical violence and tradition and family upbringing, the experience of the man’s previous marriage has a significant relationship with patriarchal belief, the education level of the woman has a significant relationship with all fields and the level of education of the man has a significant relationship with all fields except tradition and family upbringing (p < 0.05).

According to the results of both quantitative and qualitative studies, variables such as the young age of the woman and a large age difference are very important factors leading to an increase in violence. At a younger age, girls are afraid of the stigma of society and family, and being forced to remain silent can lead to an increase in domestic violence. As Gandhi et al. (2021) stated in their study in the same field, a lower marriage age leads to many vulnerabilities in women. Early marriage is a global problem associated with a wide range of health and social consequences, including violence for adolescent girls and women [ 12 ]. Also, Ahmadi et al. (2017) found similar findings, reporting a significant association among IPV and women age ≤ 40 years [ 19 ].

Two others categories of “Facilitators” in the present study were “Husband’s criminal record” and “Overdependence” which had a sub-category of “Forced cohabitation”. Ahmadi et al. (2017) reported in their population-based study in Iran that husband’s addiction and rented-householders have a significant association with IPV [ 19 ].

The patriarchal beliefs, which are rooted in the tradition and culture of society and family upbringing, scored the highest in relation to domestic violence in this study. On the other hand, in qualitative study, “Normalcy” of men’s anger and harassment of women in society is one of the “Repressors” of women to express violence. In the quantitative study, the increase in the women’s education and income level were predictors of the increase in violence. Although domestic violence is more common in some sections of society, women with a wide range of ages, different levels of education, and at different levels of society face this problem, most of which are not reported. Bukuluki et al. (2021) showed that women who agreed that it is good for a man to control his partner were more likely to experience physical violence [ 20 ].

Domestic violence leads to “Consequences” such as “Harm to children”, “Emotional harm”, “Social harm” to women and even “Non-acceptance in their own family”. Because divorce is a taboo in Iranian culture and the fear of humiliating women forces them to remain silent against domestic violence. Balsarkar (2021) stated that the fear of violence can prevent women from continuing their studies, working or exercising their political rights [ 8 ]. Also, Walker-Descarte et al. (2021) recognized domestic violence as a type of child maltreatment, and these abusive behaviors are associated with mental and physical health consequences [ 21 ].

On the other hand and based on the “Lack of effective communication” category, ignoring the role of the counselor in solving family conflicts and challenges in the life of couples in the present study was expressed by women with reasons such as lack of knowledge and family resistance to counseling. Several pathologies are needed to investigate increased domestic violence in situations such as during women’s pregnancy or infertility. Because the use of counseling for couples as a suitable solution should be considered along with their life challenges. Lin et al. (2022) stated that pregnant women were exposed to domestic violence for low birth weight in full term delivery. Spouse violence screening in the perinatal health care system should be considered important, especially for women who have had full-term low birth weight infants [ 22 ].

Also, lack of knowledge and low level of education have been found as other factors of violence in this study, which is very prominent in both qualitative and quantitative studies. Because the social systems and information about the existing laws should be followed properly in society to act as a deterrent. Psychological training and especially anger control and resilience skills during education at a younger age for girls and boys should be included in educational materials to determine the positive results in society in the long term. Manouchehri et al. (2022) stated that it seems necessary to train men about the negative impact of domestic violence on the current and future status of the family [ 23 ]. Balsarkar (2021) also stated that men and women who have not had the opportunity to question gender roles, attitudes and beliefs cannot change such things. Women who are unaware of their rights cannot claim. Governments and organizations cannot adequately address these issues without access to standards, guidelines and tools [ 8 ]. Machado et al. (2021) also stated that gender socialization reinforces gender inequalities and affects the behavior of men and women. So, highlighting this problem in different fields, especially in primary health care services, is a way to prevent IPV against women [ 24 ].

There was a sub-category of “Inefficiency of social systems” in the participants experiences. Perhaps the reason for this is due to insufficient education and knowledge, or fear of seeking help. Holmes et al. (2022) suggested the importance of ascertaining strategies to improve victims’ experiences with the court, especially when victims’ requests are not met, to increase future engagement with the system [ 25 ]. Sigurdsson (2019) revealed that despite high prevalence numbers, IPV is still a hidden and underdiagnosed problem and neither general practitioner nor our communities are as well prepared as they should be [ 26 ]. Moreira and Pinto da Costa (2021) found that while victims of domestic violence often agree with mandatory reporting, various concerns are still expressed by both victims and healthcare professionals that require further attention and resolution [ 27 ]. It appears that legal and ethical issues in this regard require comprehensive evaluation from the perspectives of victims, their families, healthcare workers, and legal experts. By doing so, better practical solutions can be found to address domestic violence, leading to a downward trend in its occurrence.

Some of the variables of violence against women have been identified and emphasized in many studies, highlighting the necessity of policymaking and social pathology in society to prevent and use operational plans to take action before their occurrence. Breaking the taboo of domestic violence and promoting divorce as a viable solution after counseling to receive objective results should be implemented seriously to minimize harm to women, children, and their families.

Limitations

Domestic violence against women is an important issue in Iranian society that women resist showing and expressing, making researchers take a long-term process of sampling in both qualitative and quantitative studies. The location of the interview and the women’s fear of their husbands finding out about their participation in this study have been other challenges of the researchers, which, of course, they attempted to minimize by fully respecting ethical considerations. Despite the researchers’ efforts, their personal and professional experiences, as well as the studies reviewed in the literature review section, may have influenced the study results.

Data Availability

Data and materials will be available upon email to the corresponding author.

Abbreviations

Intimate Partner Violence

Human Immunodeficiency Virus

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Acknowledgements

The authors of this study appreciate the Deputy for Research and Technology of Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Social Determinants of Health Research Center of Semnan University of Medical Sciences and all the participants in this study.

Research deputy of Semnan University of Medical Sciences financially supported this project.

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M.Sh. contributed to the first conception and design of this research; M.Sh., Z.Kh., M.S., R.Gh. and S.H.Sh. contributed to collect data; M.N. and M.Sh. contributed to the analysis of the qualitative data; M.M. and M.Sh. contributed to the analysis of the quantitative data; M.SH., M.N. and M.M. contributed to the interpretation of the data; M.Sh., M.S. and S.H.Sh. wrote the manuscript. M.Sh. prepared the final version of manuscript for submission. All authors reviewed the manuscript meticulously and approved it. All names of the authors were listed in the title page.

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Shayestefar, M., Saffari, M., Gholamhosseinzadeh, R. et al. A qualitative quantitative mixed methods study of domestic violence against women. BMC Women's Health 23 , 322 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-023-02483-0

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Long-Term Impact of Domestic Violence on Individuals—An Empirical Study Based on Education, Health and Life Satisfaction

1 School of Economics, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China

Peng Yating

2 School of Pharmacy, Changsha Health Vocational College, Changsha 410600, China

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This is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated.

This paper takes the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) as a sample to assess the long-term impacts of domestic violence experienced in childhood on individuals. First, from the four dimensions of injury from violence, negligent care, emotional abuse and witness to domestic violence, an indicator system for quantifying domestic violence is constructed. Second, the simultaneous equation of self-evaluation health and life satisfaction is estimated by the seemingly unrelated regression model. Starting with education, health and life satisfaction, the long-term impact of domestic violence experiences on individuals is quantitatively assessed, providing empirical evidence for preventing and curing domestic violence and healing trauma. The empirical research shows the following: (1) An experience of domestic violence significantly reduces educational achievements. Compared with the three dimensions of injury from violence, negligent care and witnessing domestic violence, emotional abuse has the greatest negative impact on educational achievements. (2) Domestic violence significantly reduces the self-assessed health level and life satisfaction and increases the subjective mental health risk. Based on the complexity and concealment of domestic violence, combined with empirical research conclusions, this paper proposes countermeasures to prevent and control domestic violence.

1. The Raising of Questions

“Almost the love of children, love and fear arrest, such as the beginning of vegetation germination, ease of the bar, the destruction of the impotence” (Wang Yangming’s “General Idea of Discipline”). Domestic violence is one of the most negative experiences that can impact the temperament of teenagers, and the trauma it brings may accompany them for life. For a long time, news about domestic violence has frequently been reported. How to prevent and control domestic violence is a key issue in governance and public opinion. On 1 March 2016, the “Anti Domestic Violence Law of the People’s Republic of China” (hereinafter referred to as the “Anti Domestic Violence Law”) was officially implemented, allowing the state to directly intervene in domestic violence through special laws. On 23 October 2021, the “Family Education Promotion Law of the People’s Republic of China” was officially promulgated, which further clarified that “parents or other guardians of minors shall not discriminate against minors on the basis of sex, physical condition, intelligence, etc., and shall not commit domestic violence”. With the joint efforts of the government, society and the media, remarkable results in the prevention and treatment of domestic violence have been achieved, but how to heal the trauma caused by domestic violence still needs to be explored. Adler, a famous psychologist, believes that “an unhappy childhood needs a lifetime to be cured” [ 1 ]. Trauma events can have a broad and lasting impact on individuals, and clarifying the long-term impact of domestic violence on individuals is a prerequisite for healing the trauma [ 2 , 3 ].

For minors, domestic violence refers to the information perceived by minors that is related to violence in the family and can be divided into direct exposure and indirect exposure according to the form of violence exposure. The former refers to direct physical attacks and abuse suffered by minors at home, while the latter refers to the violence or aggressive behavior of family members that is seen or heard by minors [ 4 , 5 , 6 ].

In the existing laws and conventions, the definition of the scope of domestic violence is not completely unified. Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates: “When a child is under the care of parents, legal guardians or any other person responsible for the care of the child, he or she shall be protected from any form of physical or mental abuse, injury or abuse, neglect or improper care, abuse or exploitation”. Article 2 of Japan’s “Child Abuse Prevention Law” stipulates that “corresponding to the obvious abuse or rejection of children, illegal attacks such as physical violence against the spouse of a family with children living together endanger their lives or bodies and other words and deeds that have significant psychological harm to children.” There are plans for domestic violence, physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse and other behaviors to be included in the category of domestic violence [ 7 , 8 ]. Article 2 of the “Anti Domestic Violence Law” of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that “domestic violence referred to in this Law refers to physical and mental violations committed among family members by means of beating, binding, maiming, restricting personal freedom, as well as constant abuse and intimidation.” Therefore, some scholars believe that negligent care, emotional abuse and the witnessing domestic violence should be defined as domestic violence against minors based on the distinctiveness of minors [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ].

No matter what the form of domestic violence is, it will cause physical and psychological trauma to minors. Empirical evidence shows that domestic violence seriously harms children’s growth, and its cumulative effects may last until adulthood [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. The harm caused by domestic violence is different for children of different ages, and early and long-term contact may cause more serious problems [ 17 ]. For preschool children and school-age children whose mothers have experienced domestic violence during pregnancy, 44% of them have at least one trauma symptom and separation anxiety [ 18 ]. It is often witnessed that domestic violence affects the brain development of children [ 19 ]. Lundy and Grossman (2005) [ 20 ] conducted a sample survey of 4636 children who had experienced domestic violence. One-fifth of them found it difficult to abide by school rules, and one-third of them were highly aggressive. This conclusion was also confirmed in another survey [ 21 ]. The harm caused by witnessing domestic violence cannot be ignored. Compared with children who have not witnessed domestic violence, preschool children who have witnessed domestic violence are more likely to have post-traumatic stress symptoms and find it more difficult to cultivate empathy and inferiority [ 22 , 23 ]. Similar to children, adolescents exposed to domestic violence are more likely to have various psychological and physical problems, experience sleep or eating disorders, engage in drug and alcohol abuse and are more likely to become perpetrators and victims of domestic violence in adulthood [ 24 , 25 ].

The existing literature has examined the definition and category of domestic violence from the perspective of the law, analyzed the adverse impact of domestic violence on personal growth from the perspective of psychology and proposed governance strategies regarding domestic violence from the perspective of social governance, but quantitative research is lacking. This paper uses the CHARLS (2011, 2013, 2015, 2018) and the “life course” survey as sample data to quantitatively assess the long-term impacts of the domestic violence experience on individuals from the perspectives of education, health and life satisfaction. The original intention of this paper is to provide empirical evidence to prevent domestic violence and heal trauma.

This paper consists of four parts as follows: first, based on the life course survey data of the CHARLS, we select the dimensions and indicators to quantify domestic violence and build an empirical model; second, we estimate the empirical model with sample data and adjust the empirical model to test the robustness of the empirical conclusion; finally, the research conclusions are summarized, and the corresponding countermeasures and suggestions are proposed.

2. Research Design

2.1. measurement of domestic violence.

This paper uses the data of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) from 2011 to 2018 (as shown in https://g2aging.org accessed on 13 December 2022). CHARLS survey was carried out in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2018. The sample covered 150 counties, 450 communities (villages) and 12,400 households in 28 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government), with 19,000 respondents. The survey conducted four levels of sampling when selecting samples. PPS probability sampling proportional to the population size was adopted in the county (district) village (resident) sampling and then randomly selected sample households from each sample village/neighborhood committee through field mapping. A family member over 45 years of age was randomly selected from each sample household as the main interviewee to interview him (her) and his/her spouse; therefore, the accuracy, unbiased and representativeness of samples are guaranteed. CHARLS provides a wealth of personal, family and community information, including demographic variables and health information at the individual level, wealth, assets, occupation and income variables at the family level and financial and economic development variables at the community level [ 26 , 27 ]. In particular, CHARLS conducted a detailed survey on whether the interviewees suffered from domestic violence and bullying in their childhood and collected information on 12 bad childhood experiences and 14 chronic diseases and frequently occurring diseases of the participants. The 12 bad childhood experiences included physical abuse, emotional neglect, domestic drug abuse, family mental illness, domestic violence, family members being imprisoned, parents separated or divorced, dangerous neighbors, bullying, death of parents, death of brothers and sisters and disability of parents ( http://charls.pku.edu.cn/en/ , accessed on 24 September 2020). This objectively creates convenient conditions for assessing the long-term impact of domestic violence on individuals, facilitates tracking the long-term development of China’s population and provides a more scientific basis for formulating and improving China’s relevant policies. It can be said that for China, CHARLS data are the best data to study the impact of domestic violence on individuals. Based on the above reasons, this paper conducts research and analysis based on CHARLS. Based on the existing literature, taking into account the reality of family division of labor, women take on more specific tasks in the process of raising and caring for children, and children’s daily life mainly depends on female caregivers. This paper intends to construct an indicator system for quantifying domestic violence from the four dimensions of injury from violence, negligent care, emotional abuse and witnessing domestic violence (shown in Figure 1 ). In the life course survey, the respondents recorded in detail whether their parents had beaten them in childhood, whether they had enough experience to take care of themselves, how their relationship with their parents was and whether they had witnessed violence between their parents. The specific definition and quantification of the variables are shown in Table 1 .

Descriptive statistics of domestic violence dimensions.

Domestic violence dimensions and quantitative methods.

According to the descriptive statistics, 3.02% of the sample respondents were often beaten by male caregivers, while 4.35% were often beaten by female caregivers, and 6.5% of the respondents were neglected by female caregivers. The proportion of respondents who had bad relationships with male and female caregivers was 1.25 and 0.91%, respectively; 1.75% of respondents’ fathers often beat their mothers, while 0.39% of respondents’ mothers often beat their fathers. Based on the above secondary indicators, combined with the weighting method based on the coefficient of variation method, we estimated the domestic violence index [ 28 ]. The secondary indicator and primary indicator weights are also shown in Table 1 , and the nuclear density distribution of the domestic violence index is shown in Figure 2 . From the distribution of the domestic violence index, the estimation of the kernel density function shows a trailing pattern, and the proportion of respondents experiencing serious domestic violence is relatively low.

Nuclear density estimation of domestic violence index.

2.2. The Choice of Variables and the Construction of Empirical Models

2.2.1. selection of indicators.

This study intends to assess the long-term impact of domestic violence on minors from three aspects: education, health and life satisfaction, so three empirical models need to be built. For the interviewees, aspects such as educational achievements; primary family environment factors, such as parents’ educational level, family economic status, number of siblings, parents’ physical and mental health and whether parents have bad behaviors; demographic variables such as age, gender, nationality, urban or rural area, community environment and economic location; as well as other macro variables are all influencing factors. Among them, the original family environment variables all originate from the 2014 life course survey. The determinants of health are similar to those of educational achievements. In addition to the above factors, education, marriage, family economic conditions and living conditions are also determinants of health [ 29 ].

The level of health can be described in two ways: one is through a self-assessment of health; the other is to break up health into physical health and mental health. Physical health can be characterized using biomarker indicators, that is, dimension reduction in blood test indicators. The dimension reduction method is shown in Equation (1) [ 30 ]:

where x represents the biomarker indicator vector; μ ( x ) is its mean vector; and S denotes the covariance matrix of biomarker indicators. Meanwhile, one can also count the frequency of blood test indicators exceeding the threshold value according to the threshold value of each blood test indicator and calculate the risk score. The psychological health risk can be calculated using the test results of the psychological scale. The blood test indicators, their thresholds and the psychological scale are shown in Table 2 . The blood examination indicators are from the 2011 and 2015 surveys, while the self-assessment health and psychological surveys have been implemented in four surveys (in the blood test data in 2011, the indicator cystatin C was often missing, so it was not used as an indicator in the dimension reduction in blood test indicators). For life satisfaction, in addition to the above factors, health and education are influencing factors. Education, self-assessment of health, psychological scale, life satisfaction and family living standard indicators are all from the follow-up survey in 2018.

Blood test indicators and psychological scale.

Meanwhile, the life course survey also recorded whether the respondents had often been bullied by other classmates during their school days. Similar to domestic violence, campus bullying can also harm the physical and mental health of minors, so it is necessary to take campus bullying as a control variable. The control variable assignment method is shown in Table 3 .

Interpreted, explanatory and control variables.

2.2.2. Empirical Model

As variables are exogenous, and education level is an ordered variable, linear model is used for estimation [ 31 ]. The empirical model of educational achievement is shown in Equation (2):

where the control variables X include campus bullying, demographic variables and native family variables. The empirical model of the self-assessment of health and life satisfaction is shown in Equation (3):

where the control variables X ′ include campus bullying, demographic statistics, native family variables and variables reflecting the quality of family life. Self-rated health and life satisfaction are both subjective indicators, and there is a causal relationship between them, so they are built into a simultaneous equation model. As self-rated health and life satisfaction are ordered variables, Equation (3) is a bivariate ordered variable model. Health is further divided into two dimensions: physical health and mental health. As physical health and mental health are mutually causal, a simultaneous equation model is also used to quantify the impact of domestic violence on health:

Different from Equation (3), the indicators reflecting physical health (DM), risk scores (Risk) and depression scores (Depr) can be regarded as continuous variables, while life satisfaction is an ordered variable, so Equation (4) is a mixed structure model. In quantitative research, the ordered probit/logit model and the simple linear regression model have consistency in the direction and significance of parameter estimates, with the latter being more intuitive and convenient to explain. Therefore, many studies directly use the OLS estimation ordered choice variable model [ 32 , 33 ], so they can also directly use the seemingly unrelated regression estimator (Equations (2)–(5)).

3. Empirical Research

The empirical research includes three main parts: First, the 2018 cross-sectional data are taken as the sample to quantify the impact of domestic violence on personal educational achievements. For the middle-aged and elderly aged 45 and above, the education level was finalized, and the 2018 cross-sectional data can be used as the sample to retain the observation object to the maximum extent. Second, the seemingly unrelated regression model is used to estimate the simultaneous equation of the self-assessment of health and life satisfaction. The sample data are panel data composed of 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2018 survey data. Finally, health is refined into physical health and mental health dimensions, and simultaneous equations are estimated through seemingly unrelated regression. The sample data are panel data composed of 2011 and 2015 survey data.

3.1. Domestic Violence and Educational Achievements

Equation (2) is estimated based on sample data. The estimated results are shown in Table 4 , which lists the estimated results of the OLS and ordered probit/logit models at the same time. According to the estimation results of the three types of models, at the 1% significance level, domestic violence significantly reduces individual educational achievements. Taking the OLS estimation results as an example, if one unit is added to the domestic violence index, the education level of individuals will decrease by 0.1318 levels. The interpretation of the estimated results of the ordered probit model requires the help of marginal effects. Based on the estimated results of the ordered probit model, the marginal effects of education level on the average value of the domestic violence index ∂ P ( E d u = κ ) / ∂ V ¯ can be estimated, in turn. The estimated results are shown in Figure 3 .

Marginal effect and probability ratio of education level on domestic violence index.

Note: Robust standard deviation in brackets; *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1; the estimated result of the tangent point value is omitted.

It can be seen from the estimation results of the marginal effect that when the domestic violence index takes the average value, the marginal effect of the probability value P ( E d u = 4 ) (being educated to graduate from primary school) on the domestic violence index is 0.0056, and for other levels of education, the marginal effect is significantly less than 0. Therefore, it can be seen that domestic violence significantly reduces educational achievements after primary school graduation.

To intuitively explain the estimation results of the ordered logit model, we can also use the generalized ordered logit model in addition to the probability ratio. The generalized ordered logit model converts the ordered logit model into several logit models, which is consistent with the above. Typical primary school graduation, junior high school graduation, senior high school graduation, technical secondary school graduation, junior college graduation and undergraduate graduation are selected as the threshold for model transformation; that is, the impact of the domestic violence index on the probability value P ( E d u ≥ k | X ) ( k = 4 , 5 , ⋯ , 9 ) is mainly examined, with the estimation results of the probability ratio shown in Figure 3 . It can be seen from the estimated results of the probability ratio that, if the domestic violence index increases by 1 unit, the probability ratio of attaining primary school graduation and above will decrease by 13.42%, the probability ratio of attaining junior high school graduation and above will decrease by 13.72% and the probability ratios of attaining high school graduation, technical secondary school graduation, junior college graduation, undergraduate graduation and above will decrease by 21.11, 16.94, 14.45 and 17.61%, respectively. According to the estimation results of the OLS estimation, the ordered probit/logit model and the generalized logit model, domestic violence significantly reduces the educational achievements of respondents.

The domestic violence index is composed of four dimensions, and the impact of each dimension on educational achievements may be inconsistent. In view of this, in the heterogeneity analysis, the domestic violence index is subdivided into four dimensions, and the corresponding estimation results are shown in Table 5 . It can be seen from the above estimation results that the OLS estimation and the coefficient estimation of the ordered probit/logit model are consistent in significance and sign, so the OLS estimation results of the linear model are used to explain the practical meaning of the model. At the 1% confidence level, among the four dimensions, only the emotional abuse dimension has a significant negative impact on educational achievement; that is, compared with the other three dimensions, emotional abuse has the most prominent negative impact on educational achievement. Specifically, if the emotional abuse index increased by 1 unit, the education level decreased by 0.0759. This is because emotional abuse will affect children’s cognitive development and impair their memory and cognitive ability to a certain extent, making them likely to encounter difficulties in learning, thus affecting their academic performance and then their education level. From another perspective, scholars have found that the level of education will adjust the impact of domestic violence on individuals, so the level of education is an important factor to consider the impact of domestic violence on individuals [ 34 ].

Results of the dimensional heterogeneity analysis.

Note: Robust standard deviation in brackets; *** p < 0.01, * p < 0.1; the estimated results of control variables and tangent point values are omitted.

3.2. Domestic Violence, Health and Life Satisfaction

Similar to the above, this part also uses the linear model for empirical research. The Breusch–Pagan test shows that the residual terms of the simultaneous equations are correlated, so the seemingly uncorrelated panel model is used to estimate the simultaneous equations. The estimation results are shown in Table 6 . At the 1% confidence level, the domestic violence index has a significant negative impact on the self-assessment health level and life satisfaction. If the domestic violence index increases by 1 unit, the self-assessment health level decreases by 0.0320, and life satisfaction decreases by 0.0948. Furthermore, the domestic violence index is divided into four levels. For health self-evaluation, at the 1% confidence level, only the emotional abuse dimension has a significant negative impact on the health self-evaluation level, which increases by 1 unit, while the self-evaluation health level decreases by 0.0267. In the life satisfaction equation, at the 1 or 5% confidence level, injury from violence, negligent care, emotional abuse and witnessing domestic violence all have significant negative impacts on life satisfaction. For each increase in the index of each dimension, life satisfaction decreases by 0.0240, 0.0189, 0.0314, and 0.0216 levels, in turn. In general, domestic violence significantly reduces the self-rated health level and life satisfaction. This is because domestic violence causes great harm to the victims, directly damages the physical and mental health of the victims and causes long-term mental tension, anxiety and fear in the victims. At the same time, because domestic violence makes it difficult for victims to feel warmth from family, life satisfaction will be greatly reduced.

Estimated results of domestic violence, health and life satisfaction.

Note: Robust standard deviation in brackets; *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05; the estimated results of other control variables and tangent point values are omitted.

3.3. Further Discussion on Domestic Violence and Health

On the basis of the above, health is further divided into physical health and mental health, characterized by biomarker indicators and depression score indicators. The corresponding estimation results are shown in Table 7 . At the 1% confidence level, the domestic violence index has a significant positive impact on depression scores; at the 5% confidence level, the domestic violence index significantly increases the abnormal frequency of blood test indicators. Specifically, in the simultaneous equation of DM and depression scores, if the domestic violence index increased by 1 unit, the depression score increased by 0.6591 points; in the simultaneous equation of the abnormal frequency of blood test index and depression scores, if the domestic violence index increased by 1 unit, the abnormal frequency of blood test index increased by 0.0532 units, and the depression score increased by 0.6617 points. Furthermore, the domestic violence index is divided into four dimensions. At the 1% confidence level, the three indexes of injury from violence, emotional abuse and witnessing domestic violence significantly improved the depression score but have no significant impact on the two health risk indicators based on blood test indicators. Therefore, on the whole, it can be determined that domestic violence increases the subjective mental health risk.

Estimated results of domestic violence and physical and mental health.

3.4. Robustness Test

Calculating the domestic violence index through dimension reduction can quantify the degree of domestic violence experienced by the interviewees in general, but it will also lose some of the indicator information. In view of this, in the robustness test, directly using the secondary indicators as explanatory variables is proposed, with the estimated results shown in Table 8 . In the education decision equation, at the 1% confidence level, only the relationship with the mother has a significant negative impact on education level. In the simultaneous equation of self-rated health and life satisfaction, for self-rated health, at the 5% confidence level, only the relationship with the mother has a significant negative impact. For life satisfaction, at the 1% confidence level, whether the father has injuries from violence, whether the mother has invested enough in taking care of herself and the relationship with the father have significant negative effects. In the two simultaneous equations of health risk, seven secondary indicators have no significant impact on the health risk indicators based on blood test indicators. For subjective mental health, at the 1 or 5% confidence level, whether the mother behaved violently, the relationship with the mother and whether domestic violence was witnessed have significant positive effects on the depression score. In general, the secondary indicators in the dimension of emotional abuse have a particularly prominent impact on educational achievement, life satisfaction and mental health, which verifies the main conclusions of the empirical study.

Estimation results of the robustness test.

4. Conclusions and Policy Recommendations

Domestic violence includes not only physical violence but also mental violence with regard to neglect, emotional abuse, etc. Therefore, this study estimates a domestic violence index from the four aspects of injury from violence, negligent care, emotional abuse and witnessing domestic violence, and then takes the CHARLS (2011, 2013, 2015, 2018) and the “life course” survey as sample data to assess the impact of domestic violence on personal education, health and life satisfaction, in turn. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Domestic violence significantly reduced the respondents’ educational achievements. Compared with the three dimensions of injury from violence, negligent care and witnessing domestic violence, emotional abuse had the most significant negative impact on educational achievements. (2) Domestic violence significantly reduced the self-rated health level and life satisfaction and significantly increased the mental health risk of the respondents.

The above conclusions have important policy implications for optimizing social governance strategies. Domestic violence has far-reaching negative impacts on personal education, health and life satisfaction. To prevent domestic violence and heal the trauma caused, based on its complexity and concealment, we believe that its long-term impact on individuals should be approached from the following four perspectives.

First, a domestic violence monitoring system should be built. Domestic violence has the characteristics of being long-term and repeated, so it is necessary to find the families involved and prevent recurrence in a timely manner. On one hand, the tracking mechanism should be strengthened: for people with low educational achievements and low physical and mental satisfaction (especially young people), society, schools and families should be vigilant in tracing domestic violence back to the source to prevent long-term negative impacts. On the other hand, the feedback mechanism should be strengthened: for those who have suffered from domestic violence, the probability of being subjected to repeated domestic violence is greatly increased. Therefore, they should be encouraged to express their concerns freely, and in the future, a “one-to-one” follow-up mechanism, and a “fixed + random” feedback mechanism should be established to strengthen the ability of victims to provide feedback and communicate with the relevant departments.

Second, the harm caused by emotional abuse and other mental abuse should be confronted. On one hand, the consciousness of the victims needs to be awakened. Domestic violence refers not only to physical violence but also emotional abuse, neglect and other spiritual mistreatment. However, compared with physical violence, the biggest dilemma surrounding domestic psychological abuse is that the victims do not comprehend it themselves but instead feel extreme emotional pain and depression. Therefore, it is necessary to make the content and methods of domestic psychological abuse known, so that the parties who are unknowingly experiencing it will become aware and safeguard their rights. On the other hand, we should establish a working mechanism for linking the authorities that deal with domestic violence. The difficulty in determining if domestic violence is occurring is that it is not easy to obtain evidence, and many victims are unable to enter the judicial process. Therefore, the judicial department should link with women’s federations, neighborhood committees, village committees and other departments to deal with cases of psychological abuse flexibly and quickly, integrating evidence collection, assistance and protection.

Third, attention should be paid to the long-term impact of domestic violence on individuals. On one hand, many perpetrators do not realize that domestic violence is a crime; on the other hand, they ignore the long-term harm to individuals caused by domestic violence. Therefore, we should not only enhance the public’s legal understanding of domestic violence but also use new media to publicize the serious harm that can be caused to individuals as a result of domestic violence. Furthermore, family moral education needs to be strengthened, and the establishment of harmonious families advocated.

Fourth, it is necessary for domestic violence to be prevented at the source. Accordingly, we must go deep into communities to facilitate an understanding of the legal issues related to family disputes [ 35 , 36 ], not only to issue personal safety protection orders to the victims but also to use laws and regulations to intervene and correct the behavior of the perpetrators [ 37 ]. Finally, we need to fully investigate and establish a family violence litigation protection base and form a “one-stop” litigation processing procedure that is simple and smooth, with privacy protections.

Funding Statement

This research was funded by the Hunan Health Economics and Information Society, grant number 2022B07.

Author Contributions

L.B. and P.Y. generated the idea and study design, collected data, and carried out the data analysis and write up. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Quantitative methods for researching domestic violence and abuse

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Quantitative methods are increasingly being used in domestic violence and abuse (DVA) settings to build evidence that can affect meaningful change. Ideally resulting in processes that are reproducible and results that can be comparable, quantitative methods are highly valued by many stakeholders, making them particularly useful to inform DVA practice, policy, and research. In essence, quantitative methods produce numerical estimates. When done well, these estimates provide insightful, precise, and valid scientific conclusions. This chapter provides an overview of common quantitative research approaches and methods, with salient examples interspersed throughout. The focus begins on important underlying principles, such as statistical significance, typologies of analysis, basic statistics, types of variables, association of variables, and levels of measurement. From there, the discussion proceeds to an overview of commonly used univariate and bivariate statistical methods. Next, more various advanced multivariable modelling methods such as regression analysis, multilevel regression analysis, factor analysis, and structural equation modelling are covered. Finally, limitations of quantitative methods are reviewed to provide important context for those conducting and interpreting the results of such analyses. Overall, readers will find this chapter to be an easy-to-digest and non-technical reference. For those who are somewhat familiar with quantitative research, the chapter will serve as a useful refresher. Moreover, for those new to quantitative methods, this chapter will provide a starting point for further exploration. In all, the chapter expertly weaves together a multitude of useful content for many stakeholders, and will hopefully inform future DVA-focused work.

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