Childhood Experiences of Corporal Punishment and Associated Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration and Victimization in Adulthood: Results from a Longitudinal Twin Study

Purpose: Corporal punishment has been widely accepted to have adverse effects on children in childhood, however, less is known about its distal effects. The current study uses data from a longitudinal Australian twin study to estimate the association between experiencing corporal punishment in childhood and involvement in adult physical intimate partner violence (PIPV) as a victim or perpetrator. Methods: The sample (N = 1532) consisted of 644 twin pairs and 244 singletons. Corporal punishment experiences were categorised in two ways: no corporal punishment and any corporal punishment; and corporal punishment categorized as being by hand, with an object, both by hand and with an object, or neither. We used mixed-effect Poisson regression with robust standard errors to estimate relative risk ratios to quantify the association between corporal punishment, PIPV victimisation and PIPV perpetration, while controlling for childhood sexual abuse, childhood physical abuse, and witnessing domestic violence. Results: Respondents who experienced corporal punishment from their father were between 38 and 40% more likely to become a victim of PIPV; and between 37 and 41% more likely to become a perpetrator of PIPV. There was no evidence of an association between corporal punishment by mothers on adult PIPV victimisation and perpetration. An analysis of the association between corporal punishment and PIPV victimisation and perpetration among monozygotic twins with different experiences of corporal punishment was inconclusive. Conclusion: Experiencing corporal punishment in childhood, particularly from a father, is a risk factor for involvement in PIPV in adulthood, both as a victim and as a perpetrator. Understanding this link may help to inform primary PIPV prevention strategies.