30.2%
of women in the U.S. experienced psychological aggression from an intimate partner in their lifetime.
That represents about 38.6 million women.
CDC data briefU.S. reference data
Emotional abuse and coercive control statistics.
National data can put language around experiences that are often hard to explain. These figures use the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest U.S. survey of intimate partner violence.
Last updated September 21, 2026. Source data: 2023/2024.
What this measures
The CDC calls it psychological aggression.
In the CDC survey, psychological aggression includes expressive aggression, such as being insulted or humiliated, alongside coercive control and entrapment. The figures below focus on the controlling behaviors people often describe as emotional abuse: monitoring, isolation, decision-making control, and control over money.
A statistic cannot define a relationship or tell anyone what to do. It can make one thing clearer: these experiences are real, measurable, and not something a person has to carry alone.
Unless a statistic says otherwise, each figure below describes an experience reported over a lifetime.
27.2%
of women experienced one or more forms of coercive control or entrapment from an intimate partner in their lifetime.
The CDC measures coercive control separately from insults or humiliation.
CDC data brief18.6%
of women said an intimate partner kept track of them by demanding to know where they were and what they were doing.
CDC data brief16.0%
of women said an intimate partner tried to keep them from seeing or talking to family or friends.
CDC data brief15.2%
of women said an intimate partner made decisions that should have been theirs to make.
CDC data brief8.8%
of women said an intimate partner kept them from having their own money.
CDC data brief14.0%
of women said an intimate partner threatened to hurt themselves or die by suicide because they were upset with them.
CDC data briefMen experience this as well. It is simply talked about less, which does not make it less real.
22.3%
of men in the U.S. experienced psychological aggression from an intimate partner in their lifetime.
That represents nearly 27.3 million men.
CDC data brief19.5%
of men experienced one or more forms of coercive control or entrapment from an intimate partner in their lifetime.
This includes monitoring, isolation, threats, and control over decisions or money.
CDC data brief13.9%
of men said an intimate partner kept track of them by demanding to know where they were and what they were doing.
CDC data briefA wider picture
29.9% of women experienced intimate partner violence and at least one related impact.
In the same survey, nearly 1 in 3 women reported contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner and at least one related impact during their lifetime. The CDC’s list of impacts includes fear, concern for safety, post-traumatic stress symptoms, injury, missed work or school, medical care, and police reports.
Read the CDC data brief ↗Methodology and sources
How to read these figures.
All statistics on this page come from a nationally weighted CDC survey of 15,609 U.S. adults, collected from September 2023 through September 2024. Estimates are population-level survey results, not a test or diagnosis for any one person’s relationship. The CDC notes that changes to the survey’s methods and some questions mean these findings should not be compared directly with earlier survey years.
- CDC National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2023/2024Data collected 2023/2024; report released February 2026
- CDC: About intimate partner violenceAccessed September 21, 2026
Cite this page
Quinn Morgan. “Emotional Abuse & Coercive Control Statistics.” Your Clarity Matters, updated September 21, 2026.
Link to this page →When you need language
Sometimes a number is where clarity starts.
For quieter, more personal ways to make sense of what you are noticing, explore the Recovery Room or find a next step that fits where you are today.