Technological intimate partner violence: Exploring technology-related perpetration factors and overlap with in-person intimate partner violence

Abstract

Technology creates new opportunities for intimate partner violence (IPV) to occur. There are common risk factors for in-person and technological IPV (tIPV), however considerably less research has investigated technology-specific risk factors. The current study examined the importance of technology use, technological disinhibition, and in-person IPV perpetration in predicting tIPV perpetration. Data were collected from 278 emerging adults via an online survey. Participants reported on their IPV perpetration, technology use, and technological disinhibition. Initial results indicated that both technology use and technological disinhibition uniquely predicted tIPV perpetration, but did not interact. Further investigation showed that social media use, but not texting, uniquely predicted tIPV perpetration. When in-person IPV perpetration variables were included, several forms of in-person IPV perpetration uniquely predicted tIPV perpetration, however technological disinhibition remained a significant predictor. These results suggest that, while there are important technology-related perpetration factors, in-person IPV also remains an important risk factor for tIPV. This points to the necessity for future research to establish how multiple forms of IPV interact and potentially exacerbate each other, as well as to prevent tIPV not only through the discussion of healthy technology use, but to continue to educate about healthy relationships overall.