Intimate partner violence is a serious social and public health problem for women. Researchers have shown the context in which intimate partner violence occurs matters, yet, prior work has not examined specifically whether motherhood, and the relationship context of motherhood, are associated with physical violence. Drawing on the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n = 492), and the stress process framework, we compared emerging adult mothers’ (mothers with one child and mothers with multiple children) and non-mothers’ reports of physical violence. Using negative binomial regression models, we found that mothers with multiple children compared with nonmothers reported more instances of relationship violence. We also found women in dating relationships with one child compared to non-mothers reported substantially more physical violence. These findings underscore the nature of stress and motherhood during emerging adulthood and the need for intervention strategies that target new mothers.

亲密伴侣暴力对妇女来说是一个严重的社会和公共卫生问题。研究人员已经表明，亲密伴侣暴力发生的背景很重要，然而，之前的研究并没有具体研究母性以及母性的关系背景是否与身体暴力有关。根据托莱多青少年关系研究 (TARS) (n = 492) 和压力过程框架，我们比较了新兴成年母亲（有一个孩子的母亲和有多个孩子的母亲）和非母亲的身体暴力报告。使用负二项回归模型，我们发现与非母亲相比，有多个孩子的母亲报告了更多的关系暴力事件。我们还发现，与非母亲相比，与一个孩子约会的女性遭受的身体暴力要多得多。这些发现强调了成年初期压力和母性的本质，以及针对新妈妈的干预策略的必要性。