Biological correlates of intimate partner violence perpetration

An extensive literature documents biological correlates of general aggression, but there has been less focus on biological correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV). The purpose of this review is to summarize the research literature to date that has reported on biological factors in IPV perpetration. We review the existing literature on four domains of biological processes that have been examined with respect to IPV perpetration, including: head injury and neuropsychology; psychophysiology; neurochemistry, metabolism and endocrinology; and genetics. We critique the literature, discuss the clinical relevance of research findings, and provide some recommendations for future biologically-oriented IPV research.

Research highlights
► Head injury rates among abusers have been consistently higher than those of the general population.
► Abusers have been distinguished from non-abusers on the basis of their performance on several neuropsychological measures, particularly those of verbal intellectual ability, executive functioning, and attention. Abusers' poor performance on these measures reflects frontal lobe dysfunction, which head injury alone cannot fully explain.
► There is little to no evidence that physiological reactivity data reliably predicts IPV perpetration or severity.
► The decreased serotonin and increased testosterone levels found in some research with partner abusive males, in combination with their reduced hypothalamic activity and reduced correlations of activity between cortical and subcortical structures involved in control and mediation of fear-induced aggression, may predispose abusers to overreact, with violence, to actual and perceived threats (i.e. facial and verbal expressions of partners).
► Variance in physical and psychological IPV has been shown to be accounted for by both shared genes between twin siblings and non-shared environments, suggesting that there may also be a genetic component to IPV.