TY - JOUR T1 - Intimate partner violence and social connection among married women in rural Bangladesh JF - Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health JO - J Epidemiol Community Health DO - 10.1136/jech-2020-214843 SP - jech-2020-214843 AU - Laura W Stoff AU - Lisa M Bates AU - Sidney Ruth Schuler AU - Lynette M Renner AU - Darin J Erickson AU - Theresa L Osypuk Y1 - 2021/05/27 UR - http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2021/05/28/jech-2020-214843.abstract N2 - Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) is high among married women in Bangladesh. Social isolation is a well-established correlate of women’s exposure to IPV, but the role of such factors in low-income and middle-income countries is not well understood. In this study, we explore whether social connection is protective against IPV among married women in rural Bangladesh.Methods Data were drawn from a multistage, stratified, population-based longitudinal sample of 3355 married women in rural Bangladesh, who were surveyed on individual and contextual risk factors of IPV. Negative binomial regression models were used to estimate the association between three different domains of social connection (natal family contact, female companionship and instrumental social support), measured at baseline in 2013, and the risk of three different forms of IPV (psychological, physical and sexual), approximately 10 months later, adjusted for woman’s level of education, spouse’s level of education, level of household wealth, age and age of marriage.Results Adjusted models showed that instrumental social support was associated with a lower risk of past year psychological IPV (risk ratio (RR)=0.84, 95% CI 0.769 to 0.914), sexual IPV (RR=0.90, 95% CI 0.822 to 0.997) and physical IPV (RR=0.81, 95% CI 0.718 to 0.937). Natal family contact was also associated with a lower risk of each type of IPV, but not in a graded fashion. Less consistent associations were observed with female companionship.Conclusion Our findings suggest that social connection, particularly in the form of instrumental support, may protect married women in rural Bangladesh from experiencing IPV.Data are available upon reasonable request. An individual who wishes to use the data must send a written request to the Principal Investigator stating the name and affiliation of the applicant, the purpose of the analysis, how the data will be used and disseminated, and a brief summary of the analyses to be performed. Following approval of the request by the PI, datasets and codebooks will be made available. Identified data will not be shared. ER -