Young Women Face Higher Risk of Partner Violence When Their Partners Cheat
Women in late adolescence face a heightened risk of intimate partner violence during weeks when their partners are sexually involved with someone else, new research shows. The same periods of non-monogamy are also linked to a greater likelihood of breakups, underscoring how closely infidelity and relationship violence can intersect.
The study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, analyzed detailed weekly data from hundreds of young women. It found that both ambiguous non-monogamy and clear-cut cheating by male partners were closely associated with violence and relationship dissolution.
How the study tracked relationships
The research drew on the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life study, which followed 1,003 women aged 18–19 from a diverse Michigan county. Of these, 992 joined the longitudinal phase and were monitored for about 2.5 years, into their early twenties.
Participants first completed an in-depth, 60-minute baseline interview covering their relationships, attitudes, and experiences with pregnancy. They then answered brief weekly surveys online or by phone, reporting on sexual activity, conflict, violence, and relationship changes.
Women who had never had sex with male partners or whose relationships ended before weekly tracking began were excluded. The final analytic sample included 895 women, most of whom participated for at least 18 months and received modest payments for their continued involvement.
Violence and infidelity were common
Over the study period, 80% of the women’s relationships eventually ended, highlighting how fluid relationships can be during young adulthood. Fighting without physical violence occurred in 41% of relationships, while 28% involved intimate partner violence at some point.
Across all relationships, 52% of participants reported having experienced intimate partner violence. On average, partners were about two years older, and sexual activity was reported in 42% of the weeks in which participants had a current partner.
Non-monogamy was also widespread, although it took different forms. Women reported cheating themselves in 5% of relationships and said their partner cheated in 7%. Ambiguous non-monogamy, in which exclusivity was never clearly established, occurred more often.
Participants reported engaging in ambiguous-consent non-monogamy in 9% of relationships, while they said their partners did so in 16% of cases. On average, relationships lasted about nine months, and most did not involve pregnancies or births.
Two types of non-monogamy explained
Lead authors Jennifer S. Barber and Yasamin Kusunoki distinguished between two key patterns: ambiguous-consent non-monogamy and non-consensual non-monogamy. Both were evaluated in relation to violence and subsequent breakups.
Ambiguous-consent non-monogamy describes situations in which at least one partner has additional sexual partners but the couple never establishes a clear agreement about monogamy. Expectations may be implied but are not explicitly discussed or defined.
Non-consensual non-monogamy, more commonly called cheating, occurs when a person has other sexual partners despite an explicit agreement to be monogamous. This form represents a direct violation of a clearly established relationship rule.
When partners cheat, risk of harm rises
The analysis found that women were more likely to experience violence during weeks when their partners were sexually involved with someone else. This pattern held for both ambiguous situations and clear cheating within monogamous agreements.
These periods of partner non-monogamy were also associated with a greater likelihood that the relationship would subsequently end. Both infidelity and intimate partner violence independently increased the odds of relationship dissolution.
The authors interpreted the findings using expectancy violations theory. This framework suggests that people hold expectations about how partners should behave, and violations of those expectations can trigger intense emotional reactions and prompt reassessment of the relationship.
According to the study, both ambiguous and non-consensual non-monogamy can function as serious relational breaches. Physical assault may influence breakups differently from chronic psychological abuse, indicating that different forms of harm may carry different consequences for relationship stability.
Limitations and future research needs
The study provides rare week-by-week insight into young adult relationships, but it also leaves important questions unanswered. Although women’s own non-monogamy was measured, its relationship with violence was not fully analyzed in the published results.
It therefore remains unclear whether women’s infidelity was similarly associated with partner violence or how often both partners engaged in non-monogamy simultaneously. These dynamics could alter how the observed risk patterns are understood.
Another limitation is that partner-perpetrated violence was measured more thoroughly than violence committed by the participants themselves. This asymmetry makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions about mutual aggression or bidirectional abuse.
Despite these gaps, the study underscores that learning to leave harmful relationships is an important developmental skill in late adolescence. Understanding how infidelity and violence intersect may help practitioners develop better prevention and support programs for young adults.
The authors stress that relationship education should address not only communication and conflict resolution, but also expectations surrounding monogamy and how to respond safely when those expectations are violated. Further research in more diverse populations will be needed to determine how broadly these patterns apply.
Article prepared by Victoria Caldwell.
