Tuller, A., Chu, M., Sage, R., Griffing, S. & Madry, L. (2010, November). The relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder and risk of intimate partner homicide. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, San Francisco, CA.

Research on intimate partner violence suggests that severe violence and threats to life increase one’s risk of intimate partner homicide (IPH) (Campbell, 2004) and the likelihood of experiencing PTSD (Briere & Jordon, 2004). Dutton (2004) suggests that victims who experience PTSD may have more difficulty perceiving danger adequately. This may suggest that victims experiencing PTSD may be at greater risk of IPH. Accordingly, this study sought to explore the relationship between PTSD and risk of IPH. The sample was ethnically diverse and consisted of 107 females residing in three domestic violence shelters. In order to assess their risk of IPH, participants completed the Danger Assessment (DA). Participants also completed the Impact of Events Scale (IES), which measured overall levels of PTSD symptoms, as well as, three symptom clusters: avoidance behaviors, intrusive thoughts, and hyperarousal. Preliminary correlation analysis revealed significant positive relationships among risk of IPH and overall PTSD symptoms (p<.05), avoidance behaviors (p<.01) and hyperarousal (p<.01). Interestingly, risk of IPH was not significantly correlated with intrusive thoughts. In addition, a logistic regression found overall PTSD, avoidance and hyperarousal to be significant indicators of elevated risk of IPH, however, additional factors, such as income and relationship to perpetrator were not significant.