(see Poster Gallery) Attitudinal Acceptance of Intimate Partner Violence Among Adolescents and Young Adults in Honduras

Background: Acceptance of IPV is a risk factor for both perpetration and experience of IPV. Among young people, acceptance of IPV has been associated with a higher risk of IPV in adulthood (Clarey & Ulloa, 2010; Copp et al., 2019). Recent reviews argue that studies on attitudinal acceptance of violence among young adults primarily focus on age and gender but overlook other factors important for prevention efforts such as marital status, education, and historical background associated with IPV risk. This study therefore examined these associations in Honduras, which has one of the highest rates of female intimate partner homicide in Latin America. The research question was: How do possible associations between age, marital status, education, witnessing IPV, and acceptance of IPV vary by gender among adolescent and young adults in Honduras?

Methods: Using data from the nationally representative Violence Against Children Survey in Honduras (n=5058), this study used multinomial logistic regression stratified by gender to examine the association of acceptance of IPV across marital status, education, and witnessing IPV for male and female respondents ages 13 to 24 years. Acceptance of IPV, the dependent variable, was measured using five binary survey questions that assess when respondents believe it is acceptable for a man to beat his wife. Responses were assigned a “1” for “yes” and “0” for “no” and summed to create a score of 0 to 5. A higher score indicates higher acceptance of IPV.

Results: Average age was 17 years for females and 18 years for males. A higher percentage of females (37.84%) were married than males (18.68%). Females and males had similar levels of education. A higher percentage of females reported witnessing IPV than males (14.66% vs. 8.65%) and more females had zero attitudinal acceptance of IPV than males (90% versus 88%). Age, marital status, and having witnessed IPV as a child were significantly associated with acceptance of IPV among males (Wald test at level p> .01) but not females. Results show that having a post-secondary education relative to a primary education increased the probability of a score of 0 in regards to attitudinal acceptance of IPV by 0.118 for females and 0.137 for males. There were no differences between those with or without an elementary school education.

Conclusions & Implications: The results highlight the importance of addressing attitudinal acceptance of IPV among adolescents and young adults and the implications for prevention programming and policy in Honduras. This study reiterates the importance of secondary and tertiary education attainment as an IPV prevention strategy, as well as educational programs that specifically deconstruct social norms that endorse IPV and other forms of violence at early ages. Prevention efforts should also take into account that Honduran girls witness IPV at higher rates than boys, which likely increases risks of IPV victimization and mental health problems. Future research should qualitatively examine how adolescents and young adults in Honduras (and beyond) specifically express attitudinal acceptance of IPV by gender to tailor targeted messaging in prevention efforts.