Interpersonal Violence and Intimate Partner Violence

Interpersonal violence — the intentional use of force or power against another person — is a major cause of injury, death, and long-term harm among adolescents and young adults. This topic introduces interpersonal violence as a public-health problem, including youth and peer violence and intimate partner (or dating) violence, and the health consequences that extend well beyond physical injury.

Definition

Interpersonal violence is the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against another person or a group, by an individual or small group; intimate partner violence is the subset occurring between current or former partners, including in adolescent dating relationships.

Scope

The topic covers the public-health framing of interpersonal violence, the distinction between interpersonal violence and other categories such as self-directed and collective violence, intimate partner and adolescent dating violence, and the physical and mental health consequences of these exposures. It is reference and educational material describing how violence is conceptualized and studied; it does not provide safety planning, risk-assessment protocols, or individualized clinical or legal advice.

Core questions

• How does public health categorize violence, and where does interpersonal violence fit?
• What forms does interpersonal violence take in adolescence, including dating and peer violence?
• What are the physical and mental health consequences of intimate partner and dating violence?
• Why is intimate partner violence often described as under-recognized in health settings?

Key concepts

• Interpersonal violence
• Intimate partner violence
• Teen dating violence
• Youth and peer violence
• Typology of violence (self-directed, interpersonal, collective)
• Ecological model of violence
• Health consequences beyond physical injury

Mechanisms

The World report on violence and health frames violence through an ecological model, in which individual, relationship, community, and societal factors interact to shape risk, and distinguishes self-directed, interpersonal, and collective violence (krug2002). Intimate partner violence produces harm through direct physical injury and through chronic stress pathways that contribute to a wide range of physical and mental health problems (campbell2002). In adolescence, dating violence victimization is prospectively associated with adverse health outcomes, indicating effects that persist over time (exnercortens2013).

Clinical relevance

For health-sciences learners, this topic explains why interpersonal and intimate partner violence are treated as health issues and not only as criminal-justice matters, and why their consequences are relevant across many clinical settings. It describes patterns and consequences at a population level; recognition, safety planning, and response in practice require trained professionals and local safeguarding and legal frameworks, and are outside the scope of this reference entry.

Epidemiology

Interpersonal violence is among the leading causes of death in young people globally, alongside unintentional injury, in systematic analyses of adolescent mortality (patton2009). Intimate partner violence affects a substantial proportion of women and is associated with a broad burden of physical and mental ill health (campbell2002), and adolescent dating violence is common enough to be a recognized prevention target with measurable longer-term health associations (exnercortens2013).

Evidence & guidelines

The World report on violence and health established a public-health, ecological approach to preventing interpersonal violence (krug2002). Longitudinal data link teen dating violence victimization to later adverse health outcomes, supporting prevention efforts directed at adolescent relationships (exnercortens2013). This entry summarizes evidence and does not constitute a clinical or screening guideline.

History

Violence was historically regarded primarily through legal and moral lenses. The 2002 World report on violence and health consolidated a public-health approach, offering a typology and ecological model and calling for prevention grounded in evidence; subsequent work extended this framing to adolescent dating violence and to the documentation of intimate partner violence as a health problem (krug2002, campbell2002, exnercortens2013).

Key figures

• Etienne Krug
• Linda Dahlberg
• Jacquelyn Campbell

Seminal works

• krug2002
• campbell2002
• exnercortens2013

Frequently asked questions

How is interpersonal violence different from other kinds of violence?

Public-health typologies distinguish self-directed violence, interpersonal violence (between individuals, including partners and peers), and collective violence (by larger groups); interpersonal violence is the category most relevant to youth and dating violence.

Why is intimate partner violence considered a health issue?

Beyond physical injury, intimate partner violence is associated with a wide range of physical and mental health consequences, which is why health systems treat it as a health problem and not only a legal one.