A latent class analysis of attitudes concerning the acceptability of intimate partner violence in rural Senegal

John Sandberg (1) , Rosalind Fennell (1) , Yacine Boujija (2) , Laetitia Douillot (2) , Valérie Delaunay (3) , Simona Bignami (2) , Wubin Xie (1) , Cheikh Sokhna (4) , Steven Rytina (5)

1 GW - The George Washington University
2 UdeM - Université de Montréal
3 LPED - Laboratoire Population-Environnement-Développement
4 VITROME - Vecteurs - Infections tropicales et méditerranéennes
5 Harvard University

Background: Research concerning the causes and consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV), particularly in less developed areas of the world, has become prominent in the last two decades. Although a number of potential causal factors have been investigated the current consensus is that attitudes toward IPV on the individual level, likely representing perceptions of normative behavior, and the normative acceptability of IPV on the aggregate level likely play key roles. Measurement of both is generally approached through either binary indicators of acceptability of any type of IPV or additive composite indexes of multiple indicators. Both strategies imply untested assumptions which potentially have important implications for both research into the causes and consequences of IPV as well as interventions aimed to reduce its prevalence. Methods: Using survey data from rural Senegal collected in 2014, this analysis estimates latent class measurement models of attitudes concerning the acceptability of IPV. We investigate the dimensional structure of IPV ideation and test the parallel indicator assumption implicit in common measurement strategies, as well as structural and measurement invariance between men and women. Results: We find that a two-class model of the acceptability of IPV in which the conditional probability of class membership is allowed to vary between the sexes is preferred for both men and women. Though the assumption of structural invariance between men and women is supported, measurement invariance and the assumption of parallel indicators (or equivalence of indicators used) are not. Conclusions: Measurement strategies conventionally used to operationalize the acceptability of IPV, key to modeling perceptions of norms around IPV, are a poor fit to the data used here. Research concerning the measurement characteristics of IPV acceptability is a precondition for adequate investigation of its causes and consequences, as well as for intervention efforts aimed at reducing or eliminating IPV.

Mots clés: Intimate partner violence; Measurement models; Latent class analysis; Attitudes; Norms

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société

John Sandberg, Rosalind Fennell, Yacine Boujija, Laetitia Douillot, Valérie Delaunay, et al.. A latent class analysis of attitudes concerning the acceptability of intimate partner violence in rural Senegal. Population Health Metrics, 2020, 18, ⟨10.1186/s12963-020-00233-0⟩. ⟨hal-04026382⟩