High Rates of Intimate Partner Violence Among Diverse Young Sexual Minority Men Who Use Substances

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) remains a critical yet understudied issue among young sexual minority men (YSMM) who use substances, who experience heightened vulnerability due to intersecting forms of stigma, discrimination, and structural marginalization. While previous research has begun to explore the prevalence of IPV among YSMM, most studies have narrowly focused on victimization, often excluding the experiences of perpetration or bidirectional IPV. Moreover, limited attention has been paid to understanding IPV across intersecting racial, ethnic, and sexual identity groups, or to exploring multiple forms of IPV including emotional, physical/sexual, controlling, monitoring, and HIV-related abuse. Methods: Data were drawn from a racially and ethnically diverse online sample of cisgender YSMM (N = 277) recruited between 2022 and 2024. Participants reported lifetime and past-year experiences of IPV victimization, perpetration, and bidirectional IPV across multiple IPV domains. Sociodemographic characteristics and substance use patterns, including alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and methamphetamine use, were examined in relation to IPV experiences. Results: Rates of lifetime IPV were alarmingly high: 69.7% reported victimization, 47.7% reported perpetration, and 44.4% experienced bidirectional IPV. In the past year, 65.0% reported IPV victimization, 43.3% reported perpetration, and 39.4% experienced bidirectional IPV. Emotional and physical/sexual IPV were the most common types. Nearly 40% of participants reported frequent IPV victimization in the past year, with emotional IPV (30.0%) being the most prevalent. Participants identifying as Black, Latino/Hispanic, mixed-race, or bisexual, as well as those with lower educational attainment, reported higher rates of IPV experiences. Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use including methamphetamine and marijuana use were significantly linked to higher rates of multiple forms of IPV, especially frequent and bidirectional IPV. Conclusion: These findings highlight the syndemic interplay between substance use and IPV among YSMM. Public health responses must prioritize culturally responsive, trauma-informed interventions that account for the unique developmental and intersectional contexts of this population.