IJE Advance Access published online on May 26, 2004
International Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/ije/dyh039
© 2004 by International Epidemiological Association
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon; Center for Research on Population and Health, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mk36{at}aub.edu.lb.
Background This paper compares husband and wife reports of wife beating using household survey data collected from poor Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanon. Methods The analyses are based on a matched data file of 417 currently married couples, drawn from a unique multi-purpose living conditions sample survey of about 3600 Palestinian refugee households interviewed in the spring and summer of 1999. Four outcomes (ever beaten, last year beating, beating during pregnancy, and injuries caused by beating) were analysed using Kappa statistics and per cent agreement. Logistic regression was used to analyse discordant reporting of wife beating during the year preceding the survey. Results Husband and wives' reports of the four different outcomes are in ‘good’ agreement as judged by Kappa coefficients, ranging from 0.62 for ‘beaten during pregnancy’ to 0.69 for ‘injuries resulting from beating’. Prevalence estimates of domestic violence are also remarkably similar. However, findings from a multivariate logistic regression model on agreement regarding ‘last year beating’ show that only age of men was a significant predictor of agreement, controlling for education level, marital duration, region of residence, household size, health status, and consanguinity. Conclusions Our findings show that men's self-reports of their violent behaviour against their wives are fairly congruent with those of their spouses, implying that the perpetrators, men, can be ‘trusted’ in providing basic information on ‘beating histories’ in epidemiological and demographic population-based investigations in contexts similar to ours. However, care should be taken in studies of young men's current beating behaviour using only their self-reports.
Original paper
Agreement between husband and wife reports of domestic violence: evidence from poor refugee communities in Lebanon
2 Center for Research on Population and Health, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Abstract 
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. Boy and A. Kulczycki What We Know About Intimate Partner Violence in the Middle East and North Africa Violence Against Women, January 1, 2008; 14(1): 53 - 70. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Hammoury and M. Khawaja Screening for domestic violence during pregnancy in an antenatal clinic in Lebanon Eur J Public Health, December 1, 2007; 17(6): 605 - 606. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 I. Ruiz-Perez, J. Plazaola-Castano, M. del Rio-Lozano, and and the Gender Violence Study Group How do women in Spain deal with an abusive relationship? J Epidemiol Community Health, August 1, 2006; 60(8): 706 - 711. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. Ahmed, M. A. Koenig, and R. Stephenson Effects of Domestic Violence on Perinatal and Early-Childhood Mortality: Evidence From North India Am J Public Health, August 1, 2006; 96(8): 1423 - 1428. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|