OBJECTIVE: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is an important public health problem. In this study, we aimed
to investigate the exposure of IPV types, child abuse and decrease in life contentment of married women from high socioeconomic status in Turkey.
METHODS: Data were collected using an online/written questionnaire and Contentment with Life Scale. The questionnaire
included definitions of physical, emotional, economic and sexual IPV and asked how many times they experienced these
types of abuse.
RESULTS: We found that physical, emotional, economic and sexual IPV exposure were 19%, 45.2%, 12.5%, and 6%, respectively, which suggest that IPV types were common in this group, too. Physical child abuse was higher among physical and emotional IPV victims (p=0004, p=0.02, respectively), while emotional child abuse was higher only among physical IPV victims
(p=0.01). On the other hand, exposure to economic and sexual IPV was not related to any type of child abuse in this sample
(p>0.05). Physical and economic IPV victims were statistically older (p=0.004, p<0.001, respectively), married for longer time
(p<0.001 for both) and had relatively lower education level (p<0.001 for both), while sexual IPV victims had lower education
level than non-victims (p=0.03). We demonstrated that physical-emotional and sexual intramarital IPV significantly reduce the
women’s contentment with life scores when compared with non-victims (p=0.02, p<0.001 and p=0.03, respectively).
CONCLUSION: IPV exposure is also severe among married women with high socioeconomic levels and is associated with child
abuse in the family and a decrease in life contentment. Lengthened education period among women with similar socioeconomic
levels may be an additional protective factor for IPV by delaying the age of marriage and increasing the individual income.