This systematic review focused on animal cruelty in abusive adult intimate partner relationships with a specific focus on the prevalence, motivations, and impact of animal abuse on victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the pets involved. Peer-reviewed research articles were sourced from online databases PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus and PsycInfo in July 2020. Overall, 427 records were retrieved, of which 35 articles from 30 studies were included in this review. Relevant data were extracted, with results presented as a narrative summary. The findings showed that the prevalence of animal abuse is high in households with intimate partner violence (range: 21%–89%) and there is a significant relationship between intimate partner violence and animal abuse. Both are often perpetrated concurrently, with animal abuse used as a mechanism to control the partner and facilitate intimate partner violence. Animal abuse affected a victim's decision to leave the abusive relationship and seek support and had an ongoing psychological impact on both animal and human victims. The findings have practical implications for organizations, professionals and researchers working in the field of intimate partner violence and animal abuse.

本系统综述重点关注虐待成人亲密伴侣关系中的虐待动物行为，特别关注虐待动物对亲密伴侣暴力 (IPV) 受害者和相关宠物的普遍性、动机和影响。同行评审的研究文章来自 2020 年 7 月在线数据库 PubMed、CINAHL、Scopus 和 PsycInfo。总共检索到 427 条记录，其中来自 30 项研究的 35 篇文章被纳入本综述。提取了相关数据，结果以叙述性摘要的形式呈现。研究结果表明，在有亲密伴侣暴力的家庭中，虐待动物的发生率很高（范围：21%–89%），并且亲密伴侣暴力与虐待动物之间存在显着关系。两者经常同时发生，虐待动物被用作控制伴侣和促进亲密伴侣暴力的机制。虐待动物会影响受害者离开虐待关系并寻求支持的决定，并对动物和人类受害者产生持续的心理影响。这些发现对在亲密伴侣暴力和虐待动物领域工作的组织、专业人士和研究人员具有实际意义。