ORIGINAL PAPER Unique Risk and Protective Factors for Partner Aggression in a Large Scale Air Force Survey Amy M. Smith Slep • Heather M. Foran • Richard E. Heyman • Jeffery D. Snarr Published online: 6 April 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract The objective of this study is to examine risk factors of physical aggression against a partner in a large representative Active Duty Air Force sample. A stratified sample of 128,950 United States Active Duty members were invited to participate in an Air Force-wide anony- mous online survey across 82 bases. The final sample (N = 52,780) was weighted to be representative of the United States Air Force. Backward stepwise regression analyses were conducted to identify unique predictors of partner physical aggression perpetration within and across different ecological levels (individual, family, organiza- tion, and community levels). Relationship satisfaction, alcohol problems, financial stress, and number of years in the military were identified as unique predictors of men’s and women’s perpetration of violence against their partner across ecological levels. Parental status, support from neighbors, personal coping, and support from formal agencies also uniquely predicted men’s but not women’s perpetration of violence across ecological levels. This study identified specific risk factors of partner violence that may be targeted by prevention and intervention efforts aimed at different levels of impact (e.g., family interven- tions, community-wide programs). Keywords Partner aggression Á Intimate partner violence Á Air Force Á Risk factors Á Ecological levels Introduction Intimate partner violence is a major public health problem, affecting millions of American families each year. Preva- lence of physically aggressive acts toward partners in the United States is estimated at approximately 16% [1]. Partner aggression is associated with major depressive episodes and posttraumatic stress disorder in women, poorer health, substance abuse, depressive symptoms, and injury among men and women [2–5]. Although both women and men are injured by their aggressive partners, injury is more likely for women than men [5, 6]. Longi- tudinal studies also show that physical aggression against women and men is associated with marital discord and divorce [7]. Partner violence is as much of a problem in military communities as civilian ones [8]. Each year, the United States Air Force substantiates approximately 2,900 partner maltreatment incidents. Over $30 million is spent each year on the Air Force Family Advocacy Program to prevent, assess, and treat family maltreatment and to maintain a central registry of substantiated cases. Concern about partner violence in the military led to the formation of a congressionally mandated task force on domestic violence in the Department of Defense. Not unlike in civilian communities, both perpetrators and victims are motivated to keep maltreatment incidents private. Recent data suggest that fewer than 10% of individuals involved in a severely partner abusive relationship in the Air Force have come to anyone’s formal or informal attention for these problems, which makes outreach and prevention efforts targeting the continuum of aggression critical [9]. The risk and protective factor literature on partner aggression is extensive [10, 11]. Most of this work has focused on a few factors drawn from specific theoretical A. M. S. Slep (&) Á H. M. Foran Á R. E. Heyman Á J. D. Snarr Family Translational Research Group, Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500, USA e-mail: Amy.Slep@stonybrook.edu 123 J Community Health (2010) 35:375–383 DOI 10.1007/s10900-010-9264-3