Gender Mistrust and Intimate Partner Violence during Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Recent research demonstrates that gender mistrust influences union formation and stability. However, several scholars have noted that individuals often form relationships despite high levels of mistrust. Yet limited work has examined the implications of gender mistrust for relationship quality, including the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV). Furthermore, there are few quantitative studies addressing correlates of gender mistrust, and particularly with regard to identifying factors associated with changes in feelings of mistrust over time. Drawing on five waves of data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS), the current investigation examined longitudinal predictors of gender mistrust and found that whereas parents’ gender mistrust and other sociodemographic characteristics were associated with initial levels of mistrust, individuals’ own relationship experiences further shaped trajectories of gender mistrust over time. Additionally, feelings of mistrust corresponded to heightened odds of IPV perpetration, and this association appeared especially salient for women. GENDER MISTRUST AND IPV