Coercive control during the transition to parenthood: An overlooked factor in intimate partner violence and family wellbeing?

A key criticism of research on intimate partner violence (IPV) is that a sole focus on physical or psychological acts of aggression fails to account for other forms of manipulative behavior that may have serious consequences for partner and family functioning. The current study examines coercive control, or behavior designed to constrain or compel an intimate partner in some way, in a longitudinal community sample of 98 heterosexual couples assessed in the third trimester of pregnancy as well as at 1 and 2 years postpartum. We found that the majority of couples reported at least some coercive controlling behavior during the transition to parenthood, that coercive control was highly bi-directional between partners, and that women were more likely than men to engage in coercive control before parenthood. Using multilevel actor-partner interdependence modeling, we found that women's coercive control predicted their own as well as men's perpetration of IPV across the transition to parenthood. Controlling for IPV perpetration by both partners, women's coercive control was longitudinally predictive of men's depression, harmful alcohol use, relationship dissatisfaction, poor co-parenting, low perceived parenting competence, and perceptions of toddler problem behavior. Men's coercive control was longitudinally predictive of women's relationship dissatisfaction and parenting stress, as well as women's perceptions of infant problem behavior. Men's coercive control was associated with their own use of ineffective parenting behavior. These findings suggest that coercive control is common in community samples during the transition to parenthood and that coercive control predicts lower early family functioning.