A multi-state examination of the victims of fatal adolescent intimate partner violence, 2011-2015

Background: fatal intimate partner violence occurs among adolescents, which is often when firstexposure to intimate partner violence occurs in the united states. however, research mainlyexamines intimate partner violence-related fatalities between adult intimate partners. suchfindings document that non-intimate partners, corollary victims, are at risk for violence duringintimate partner violence incidents, as well. research examining fatal intimate partner violenceamong adolescents is scant. this study informs public health of the extent and circumstances offatal adolescent intimate partner violence by quantifying the burden across a five-year span;describing fatal victims by demographics and precipitating circumstances; and examiningdifferences by victim type.methods: this study used data from 17 states of the united states in the national violent deathreporting system to examine fatal intimate partner violence-related incidents involving at leastone adolescent intimate partner (15-19 years of age) from 2011-2015. ipv-related death caseswere guided by the intimate partner violence surveillance criteria prescribed by centers fordisease control and prevention. decedents were subdivided into intimate partner victims,perpetrator victims, and corollary victims. victims were described by demographics, victimdescriptors, and precipitating circumstances of death. annual trends and descriptive statistics werecalculated.results: there were 93 intimate partner violence-related fatal incidents among adolescents with116 decedents. a firearm was the predominant weapon. crises, arguments, jealousy, and physicalfights were common precipitating circumstances. corollary victims represented 18% of all victims,65% were intimate partner victims, and 17% perpetrator victims. corollary victims were primarilylinked to the suspect by other intimate partners, and friends and acquaintances.conclusions: intimate partner violence is a preventable public health problem. this studydocuments that intimate partner violence among adolescents can result in deaths of intimatepartners and corollary victims. effective prevention should begin in early adolescence andincorporate shared and protective risk factors to have the greatest impact on adolescent ipv.