BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a critical yet understudied issue among young sexual minority men (YSMM) who use substances, who experience heightened vulnerability due to intersecting forms of stigma, discrimination, and structural marginalisation. Most studies have narrowly focused on victimisation, often excluding the experiences of perpetration or bidirectional IPV. There is limited understanding on IPV intersecting racial, ethnic, and sexual identity groups, or to exploring multiple forms of IPV including emotional, physical/sexual, controlling, monitoring, and HIV-related abuse.
METHODS: Data were drawn from a racially and ethnically diverse online sample of cisgender YSMM (N = 277) in 2022–2024. Participants reported lifetime and past-year experiences of IPV victimisation, perpetration, and bidirectional IPV across multiple IPV domains. Socio-demographic characteristics and substance use patterns, were examined in relation to IPV experiences.
RESULTS: Rates of lifetime IPV were high: 69.7% reported victimisation; 47.7% reported perpetration; and 44.4% experienced bidirectional IPV. In the past year, 65.0% reported IPV victimisation, 43.3% reported perpetration, and 39.4% experienced bidirectional IPV. Emotional and physical/sexual IPV were the most common types. Nearly 40% of participants reported frequent IPV victimisation in the past year, with emotional IPV (30.0%) being the most prevalent. Participants identifying as Black, Latino/Hispanic, mixed-race, or bisexual, and those with lower educational attainment reported higher rates of IPV experiences. Substance use was significantly linked to higher rates of multiple forms of IPV, especially frequent and bidirectional IPV.
CONCLUSION: The syndemic interplay between substance use and IPV among YSMM means that public health responses need to culturally responsive and trauma-informed for the developmental and intersectional contexts of this population.
High rates of intimate partner violence among diverse young sexual minority men who use substances
Sexual Health, 23 (2), SH25201. doi: 10.1071/SH25201.