Profiles of Intimate Partner Violence Victimization, Substance Misuse, and Depression Among Female Caregivers Involved with Child Protective Services

Intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization, substance misuse, and depression are highly prevalent among female caregivers involved with child protective services (CPS). Understanding heterogeneity in the occurrence of these problems is essential to improving pathways to intervention. Latent class analysis was employed to determine whether homogeneous subgroups of female caregivers who experience different patterns of IPV victimization, substance misuse, and depression exist. A restricted three-class solution best fit the data. A substantial number of female caregivers comprises the high-risk subgroup (33 %) in which caregivers reported high rates of IPV victimization, substance misuse, and depression. Avery small proportion comprised the no-risk subgroup (9 %). Findings emphasize heterogeneity among female caregivers based on these risk factors, which may have implications for practitioners, CPS caseworkers, and researchers.