Intimate partner violence is a serious issue affecting migrant workers in China. The present study investigated the prevalence of intimate partner violence in a sample of Chinese female migrant workers and examined the moderating role of number of children in the link between intimate partner violence and marital instability within the framework of social exchange theory. A total of 805 married female migrant workers responded to the Conflict Tactics Scales, the Marital Quality Scale, and a demographic data form. The results revealed that 37% of these women experienced intimate partner violence during last year. Regression analyses found a significant association between intimate partner violence and marital instability. More importantly, this association was moderated by their number of children. Intimate partner violence significantly predicted marital instability for childfree or one-child female migrant workers, but not for female migrant workers with two or more children. These results provide new insights on how having children influences female migrants’ suffering IPV decision-making about whether to terminate their relationship. They also offer insights for intervention programs for victimized women. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

China Children Marital instability female migrant workers Intimate partner violence

married person male female China regression analysis theoretical study decision making prevalence demography migrant worker Article human partner violence human experiment Child