Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent public health problem with many serious consequences including risk for mental health problems, injuries, and other chronic health problems. The purpose of this dissertation is to utilize longitudinal data to explore various aspects of IPV that are currently of interest and have significant implications in both the public health and policy worlds. This dissertation attempts to better understand the relationship between WV and employment, both through literature review and empirical analysis. It also strives to understand how and why certain women experience patterns of violence persistence or experience violence initiation in their relationships. The findings are presented among a sample of predominantly Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women, a population that has been largely underrepresented in IPV research.

A literature review of 18 recent studies found that there is a bidirectional relationship between IPV and employment. Several longitudinal studies found a clear relationship between a recent history of IPV and difficulty maintaining stable employment. In analyses spanning a nine year period, there is some evidence of a long-term impact of IPV on employment stability, although the relationship is mediated by depression. Concurrent IPV and employment are highly associated; women experiencing IPV over the past 12 months were significantly less likely to be stably employed during the same 12 month period. Women who identify themselves as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander are at an increased risk of unstable employment. Over a three year period, 20% of women in the sample reported violence initiation and 25% reported persistence. Woman's unemployment and experiences of psychological aggression are strongly associated with violence initiation. Experiencing psychological aggression and violence severity are key factors in distinguishing between violence patterns; their combination is strongly associated with violence persistence. Women who identified their primary ethnicity as Asian were significantly more likely to experience violence cessation as opposed to persistence. This dissertation finds that IPV and employment are closely tied and their relationship should be further explored.