Women's experiences of different kinds of abusive behavior by their partner
s were studied in relation to birth weight of the women's infants and other
pregnancy outcome measures. Eighty-four women who delivered a low-birth-we
ight (<2500 g) infant (cases) and 90 women who delivered an infant with hig
her birth weight (controls) were interviewed in a case-control study. Infor
mation about the partners' behavior during conflicts were obtained by use o
f a modified Conflict Tactics Scale. Different interpersonal conflict behav
iors were categorized as negative verbal interaction or moderate or severe
physical abuse. Women who had experienced moderate or severe violence in a
relationship also had experienced negative verbal interaction from their pa
rtner. Low birth weight was not associated with experiences of any interper
sonal conflict behavior in the total sample (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.42-1.37). Am
ong women with a low birth weight infant, mean birth weight was 261 g lower
among those who reported any interpersonal conflict behavior during pregna
ncy. Birth of a low-birth-weight infant was not associated with abuse in a
wide sense. Also, such abuse was unassociated with a variety of other compl
ications during pregnancy, lifestyle characteristics, or pregnancy outcome
measures.