Child Abuse & Neglect 36 (2012) 40–52 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Child Abuse & Neglect Risk factors for unidirectional and bidirectional intimate partner violence among young adults  Lynette M. Renner a,* , Stephen D. Whitney b a University of Iowa, School of Social Work, USA b University of Missouri, Department of Educational, School & Counseling Psychology, USA a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 5 July 2010 Received in revised form 6 July 2011 Accepted 11 July 2011 Available online 23 January 2012 Keywords: Intimate partner violence Domestic violence Dating violence Child abuse Risk factors Bidirectional a b s t r a c t Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify common and unique risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) among young adults in relationships. Guided by two mod- els of IPV, the same set of risk factors was used to examine outcomes of unidirectional (perpetration or victimization) and bidirectional (reciprocal) IPV separately for males and females. Methods: The sample included 10,187 young adults, ages 18-27, from the National Longi- tudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The respondents were drawn from Wave 3 and stated they had a romantic relationship during the time of the study. The risk factors were pri- marily related to violent socialization (e.g., childhood maltreatment, youth violence) and personal adjustment (e.g., alcohol use, depression). Results: Approximately 47% of the respondents experienced some form of IPV in romantic relationships, and the majority of respondents reported bidirectional violence. For males, childhood sexual abuse was associated with perpetration and bidirectional IPV, and child- hood neglect was associated with bidirectional IPV. For females, childhood neglect was associated with all three IPV outcomes, and childhood physical abuse was associated with bidirectional IPV. Youth violence perpetration during adolescence increased the odds for all IPV outcomes among females, while low self-esteem increased the odds for all IPV outcomes among males. A history of suicide attempts predicted bidirectional IPV across genders. Being married and living with a partner predicted all three IPV outcomes for males and females. Conclusions: The results revealed more common risk factors for bidirectional IPV than unidirectional IPV and few common risk factors across genders. The results indicate that IPV prevention and intervention strategies should be tailored to the unique risk experiences of males and females rather than focus on a common factors approach. However, child abuse, youth violence, and suicide prevention efforts may reduce incidents of later IPV for males and females, and these strategies should continue to be an emphasis in practice and research. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.  This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis. * Corresponding author address: University of Iowa, School of Social Work, 308 North Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. 0145-2134/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.07.007