Spousal Concordance in Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Its Association With Physical IPV Against Women: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Young Married Couples in Rural India

Abstract

This study aimed to assess couple concordance in attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) and its association with physical IPV against women. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1,201 nonsterilized women aged 18–29 years and their husbands. It was found that husbands were significantly more likely (69.9%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 67.3%, 72.5%) to justify IPV than wives (56.5%, 95% CI: 53.7%, 59.3%). Couples who both hold attitudes justifying IPV against women (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 3.5; 95% CI: 1.57%–8.00%) and couples where women hold these attitudes, but men do not (AOR: 2.93; 95% CI: 1.18–7.28), were more likely to report male-perpetrated IPV against women in the prior 12 months.