Context for specific episodes of marital violence: Gender and severity of violence differences

The present study was designed to evaluate the context of marital violence through husbands' and wives' accounts of the worst violent episode in the year prior to assessment. The primary objective was to examine severity (mild or severe) and gender (husbands or wives) differences in reports of the worst episode of marital aggression using a functional analysis conceptualization. That is, within the specific episode, current stressors, setting events, outcome, and function of aggressive behavior(s) and victimization experiences were evaluated. Sixty-two couples, who presented for marital treatment over a three year period and also reported at least one episode of physical aggression in the past year, participated. In most cases, marital aggression appeared to reflect an outgrowth of conflict between both partners. However, wives consistently reported that their aggressive husbands had engaged in more psychological coercion and aggression than they as a marital conflict escalated to physical violence. Further, there was a tendency for wives to use severe physical aggression in self-defense more often than husbands.     

Attributions for episodes of marital aggression: The effects of aggression severity and alcohol use

This study examined attributions for husband to wife marital agression as a function of aggression severity and husbands' alcohol use. Subjects were a community sample of 117 wives and 109 husbands who reported an episode of serious physical aggression during a structured interview, conducted at one year of marriage. The results showed that husbands' attributions were influenced by both severity and alcohol use. In particular, sober husbands tended to blame their wives for severe aggression, but, unexpectedly, drinking husbands tended to assume responsibility for severe aggression. In contrast, wives' attributions were influenced mainly by severity. Wives also discriminated between the locus and stability dimensions of causal attributions, whereas husbands relied solely on the locus dimension. Specifically, wives held husbands' behavior more responsible for severe aggression than their own behavior and held husbands' character much more responsible than their own character. Additional findings with regard to relationship attributions were discussed.     

Prevalence and distribution of premarital aggression among couples applying for a marriage license

This study used a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale to examine the prevalence of premarital aggression in a community sample of husbands and wives. The sample consisted of 625 couples participating in a longitudinal study of marital functioning and alcohol use. Consistent with past studies, the overall prevalence rate of husband-to-wife premarital aggression was 35%. Sociodemographic variables were associated with premarital aggression, with differences emerging primarily with regard to moderate aggression rather than mild aggression. Further, factors such as race, education, social class, cohabitation, and presence of children were independently associated with premarital aggression. This study is one of the first to examine premarital aggression in a large, heterogeneous sample of young husbands and wives at the same stage of relationship development. Future analyses will examine the prevalence, frequency, and continuity of husband and wife aggression over the first year of marriage.     

Physical,Psychological, and Sexual Intimate Partner Aggression Among Newlywed Couples: Longitudinal Prediction of Marital Satisfaction

This study examined associations between physical, psychological, and sexual intimate partner aggression (IPA) perpetration during the first year of marriage (T1) and victim marital satisfaction one (T2) and two (T3) years later among a sample of 202 newlywed couples. Prevalence rates of all forms of IPA were consistent with those documented in prior research. Higher levels of all types of IPA generally were associated with lower victim marital satisfaction at all time points, when controlling for initial levels of satisfaction. Couples who reported severe bidirectional psychological IPA demonstrated lower husband and wife marital satisfaction at T2 and lower husband satisfaction at T3 than couples who reported husband-only, wife-only, or no psychological IPA. Analyses examining the relative predictive abilities of all forms of IPA perpetration showed that psychological IPA was the most consistent unique contributor of victim marital satisfaction. Study findings highlight the importance of psychological IPA, in addition to physical IPA, in examinations of correlates of marital satisfaction.     

Violent marriages: Gender differences in levels of current violence and past abuse

Military couples mandated for marital violence treatment (n=199) self-reported pretreatment levels of marital violence. This sample is unique in that data from both partners in severely violent marriages were available. Spouses were interviewed conjointly about past and current marital violence, childhood victimization, type of parental violence witnessed, and subjective impressions of childhood emotional and/or physical abuse. Results suggest that in the majority of these couples both husbands and wives reported engaging in acts of current marital violence (83%). However, significant gender differences were found such that husbands were more likely to use severely violent tactics, less likely to receive a marital violence injury, and less likely to report being afraid during the last incident of marital violence than wives. Surprisingly, wives were more likely than husbands to blame themselves for the first incidence of violence in the marriage. Husbands and wives did not differ in the prevalence of witnessing parental aggression, but wives were more likely than husbands to report being beaten as children and to perceive themselves as abused. For both genders, victimization from mother predicted marital perpetration, whereas victimization from father predicted marital victimization.     

Verbal Aggression Among Male Alcoholic Patients and Their Wives in the Year Before and Two Years After Alcoholism Treatment

Our earlier reports on 88 male alcoholics and their wives showed that domestic violence decreased significantly in the first and second year following a behavioral marital therapy (BMT) alcoholism treatment program. The present study examined verbal aggression in this same sample. In the year before BMT, verbal aggression was significantly greater—being five to seven times more prevalent for clinically elevated aggression and substantially more frequent—for the alcoholic husbands and their wives than for a demographically matched, nonalcoholic comparison sample. In the two years after BMT, both alcoholic men and their wives showed significant and substantial reductions in verbal aggression as compared with the year before BMT. Despite these significant reductions from the year before BMT, verbal aggression in the two years after BMT remained significantly elevated relative to demographically similar nonalcoholic controls. As predicted, relapsed alcoholics and their wives showed more verbal aggression in the 2 years after BMT than both couples with a remitted alcoholic husband and demographically similar nonalcoholic controls, whereas remitted alcoholics and their wives had similar levels of verbal aggression to the nonalcoholic controls. Further, frequency of drinking was positively correlated with verbal aggression in the 2 years after BMT; verbal aggression was greater when the alcoholic husband drank more frequently.     

Wife Abuse in Hong Kong Chinese Families: A Community Survey

The present study aimed to explore the extent and pattern of wife abuse in Hong Kong Chinese families. The sample included 1,132 married women aged 18 or older randomly selected from the community. Results showed that 67.2% of the surveyed women reported at least one incident of verbal abuse, and 10% experienced at least one incident of physical abuse by their husbands during the surveyed year. Husband-to-wife minor physical violence was almost seven times more than husband-to-wife severe physical violence (9.8% vs 1.4%). Couples' age and their age differences were related to physical wife abuse but not verbal wife abuse. Specifically, physical wife abuse in the form of minor violence occurred most frequently among married men and women aged 30 or below; and both minor and severe physical violence to wife was found most frequently among couples whose ages were more than 20 years apart. Couples' education level, differences in education, occupation, family income, and number of children were not related to various forms of wife abuse; whereas the length of marriage and marital satisfaction were significant correlates of wife abuse. Results were discussed with regard to relevant local and Western studies.     

Attachment, Emotional Regulation, and the Function of Marital Violence: Differences Between Secure, Preoccupied, and Dismissing Violent and Nonviolent Husbands

The purpose of this study was to investigate behavioral differences among nonviolent, unhappily married husbands and violent husbands with different attachment classifications on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; Main and Goldwyn, 1994). Twenty-three Domestically Violent (DV) husbands and 13 maritally distressed but non-violent (DNV) husbands were interviewed using the AAI. Violent husbands (74%) were more likely than the distressed/nonviolent husbands (38%) to be classified into one of the insecure categories on the AAI. As predicted, during laboratory arguments with their wives, dismissing husbands were the most controlling and distancing, and preoccupied husbands the least distancing, during marital interactions. Secure husbands were significantly more defensive than the two insecure types. Sequential analyses of reports of violent arguments at home revealed different patterns among different types of batterers. For the preoccupied batterers only, wife withdrawal was a significant predictor of husband violence. For the dismissing batterer only, wife defensiveness was a significant precursor to husband violence. It is theorized that preoccupied batterers' violence and emotional abuse is related to expressive violence in response to abandonment fears; whereas dismissing batterers use instrumental violence to assert their authority and to control their wives. The overlap between this and other typologies of violent men is explored.Deceased     

Marital Rape: Is the Crime Taken Seriously Without Co-occurring Physical Abuse?

This vignette study was conducted to determine how observers' beliefs about marital rape are altered by the knowledge of a prior history of husband-to- wife physical violence. Participants (n = 50 college students) read three different marital rape situations; in one situation the husband had been physically violent in the past; in another he had not. In the third situation, participants were not given any information about the physical abuse history between the spouses. As expected, participants blamed the victim most for the marital rape and minimized the seriousness of the rape when they had been told that there was not a prior history of husband-to-wife physical abuse. These findings suggest that observers use a physical violence history to establish the coercion needed to determine that marital rape had occurred. The legal implications of these findings are discussed.     

Co-occurrence and Correlates of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depression in Physically Abused Women

Ninety two women presenting for treatment for marital problems and who were physically victimized by their spouses (e.g., pushing, shoving, punching) within the past year participated in this study. There were three study objectives: (1) document rates and co-occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), (2) identify predictors of PTSD and depression symptom frequency/severity, and (3) systematically evaluate disorder-specific group differences in marital- and marital violence-related factors. Within the month prior to assessment, 29.8% of the sample met diagnostic criteria for PTSD and 32% for MDD. MDD and PTSD were significantly, but moderately, correlated at both the symptom and diagnosis levels. However, PTSD symptom frequency and depression symptom severity were predicted by different marital- and marital violence-related factors. PTSD symptoms were predicted by spouse's dominance/isolation tactics and intensity of husband-to-wife physical aggression while depressive symptoms were predicted by marital discord and intensity of husband-to-wife physical aggression. Comorbid women and those with PTSD only reported significantly more spousal fear and husband-to-wife physical aggression than those with MDD only or neither disorder. No group differences were found on rate of marital discord or spouse's controlling/isolating tactics. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical and treatment implications for abused women seeking treatment for marital conflict.     

The Association Between Affective and Problem-Solving Communication and Intimate Partner Violence Among Caucasian and Mexican American Couples: a Dyadic Approach

The present study examined individuals’ subjective evaluation of their effectiveness with regard to affective communication and problem-solving communication, and their relation to intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. Data from 100 Caucasian American and Mexican American couples were collected during the first and during the third year of marriage. For affective communication, a significant partner effect emerged, indicating that husbands’ higher dissatisfaction with affective communication was related to wives’ higher IPV victimization. For problem-solving communication, a significant actor effect emerged, indicating that husbands’ higher dissatisfaction with problem-solving communication was related to husbands’ higher IPV victimization. While these findings largely generalized to Caucasian Americans, they did not generalize to Mexican Americans.     

Does alcohol make a difference? Within-participants comparison of incidents of partner violence

Episodes of husband-to-wife violence in which the husband consumed alcohol were compared with episodes of husband-to-wife violence, reported by the same individuals, in which the husband was not drinking. Among this community sample of newlyweds, wife reports, but not husband reports, indicated that violent episodes in which the husband was drinking included more acts of violence and were more likely to involve severe violence. Both wife and husband reports indicated that wives were more likely to be physically aggressive in husband drinking episodes compared to sober episodes. However, whereas wives reported that their aggressive behavior was a response to husband aggression, husbands reported that wives were more likely to initiate violence in these episodes. Violent episodes that include alcohol may be more severe and more mutually violent than sober episodes. Discrepancies between husband and wife reports may reflect differences in recall or self-serving biases.     

ANALYSIS OF MEDIATION AGREEMENTS OF FAMILIES REPORTING SPECIFIC TYPES OF INTIMATE PARTNER ABUSE

The purpose of this study was to carefully measure Intimate Partner Abuse (IPA) behaviors among a large ( n  = 864 couples) sample of pairs of husbands and wives who were mandated to attend divorce mediation and then to: categorize the behaviors into theoretically-driven types of IPA, determine the number of cases screened out of mediation for any reason, and investigate whether measured outcomes of mediation (primary physical and legal custody) were related to IPA. Results indicated that rarely was IPA not reported—the most frequently reported IPA behavior was psychological abuse (98% of wives; 97% of husbands), followed by physical abuse (58% of wives; 54% of husbands), escalated physical abuse (62% of wives; 50% of husbands), and sexual intimidation, coercion and rape (56% of wives; 29% of husbands). Rarely were couples reporting IPA screened out of mediation (5%), and rarely were supervised parenting time or restrictions on contact between parents included in mediated agreements made by couples reporting IPA (6.5%). The overall level of IPA was unrelated to the specific terms of mediated agreements; however, by far the most frequent type of mediated agreement the couples' negotiated in mediation was for primary physical custody to go to the wife and for the husband and wife to have joint legal custody (59% of cases). Analysis of the implications of these findings and policy recommendations are included.     

The Status and Characteristics of Couple Violence in China

A couple’s relationship is very important to marital well-being as well as the harmony of family and society. Violent behaviors in marriage have bad effects on people’s physical and mental health and cause large social burdens. In this study, we investigated 194 couples in Beijing to explore the status and characteristics of couple violence from three aspects by using Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2). We conclude that: (1) Couple violence is universal, although the frequency is not so high. Prevalence and frequency of psychological violence are higher than physical and sexual violence; rate of wives’ victimization is significantly higher than that of husbands; frequency of the perpetration of sexual violence by husbands is significantly higher than that by wives. (2) There is concurrence of different types of couple violence. Specifically, physical and sexual violence are usually accompanied by psychological violence; however, psychological violence exists independently. (3) Couple violence is often bidirectional, especially in psychological violence. (4) Marital length is negatively correlated to wives’ perpetration of physical violence and their victimization of sexual violence.     

The Cross-Cultural Association Between Marital Status and Physical Aggression Between Intimate Partners

Some research suggests that the risk of physical aggression by an intimate partner is related to marital status, but this relationship may vary across cultures and by gender. In the present study, we systematically examine the relationship between marital status and physical partner aggression by gender across 19 countries. Logistic and multilevel regression confirmed previous findings of lower rates of physical aggression for legally married versus cohabiting and separated/divorced women and men across most, but notably, not all countries. Single status was associated with higher risk in some countries and lower in others reflecting possible cultural differences in risk for different marital statuses. For example, single women had significantly lower rates of victimization than did married women in India where violence against wives is often accepted. The variation in the cross-cultural findings highlights the importance of examining both men and women and considering the cultural context when interpreting the relationship between partner aggression and marital status.     

Verbal and Physical Aggression in Couples Where the Female Partner is Drinking Heavily

This study evaluated (i) frequencies of aggression in maritally distressed problem drinking (DP) women relative to controls, (ii) aggression, marital satisfaction, and partner drinking in predicting female drinking, and (iii) discrepant within-couple drinking in predicting marital distress. The sample included 27 DP women, 24 maritally distressed nonproblem drinking women (DNP women), and 24 women with neither problem (NDNP women). DP women reported frequencies of physical aggression similar to DNP women, but less male verbal aggression than DNP women. Predictors of female drinking were marital satisfaction and male drinking, but aggression did not predict female drinking. Female marital satisfaction was predicted by interspousal discrepancies in drinking after accounting for verbal aggression.     

Individual and Marital Consequences of Victimization: Moderating Effects of Relationship Efficacy and Spouse Support

Marital dissatisfaction and depression are common characteristics of abused women. In this investigation, we attempted to identify variables that might buffer women's marital satisfaction and stability, and their psychological adjustment against the effects of verbal and physical abuse. Verbal and physical victimization had significant negative direct effects on women's marital satisfaction: victimized women were characterized by less satisfaction and less stability regardless of their sense of relationship efficacy or their perceptions of spousal support. However, the effects of victimization on women's depression were moderated by relationship efficacy, perceived intimacy, and acceptance of emotional expression provided by the spouse: nonvictimized women who perceived more support and felt more efficacious, relative to those who felt less support and less efficacy, experienced fewer depressive symptoms, while victimized women who perceived more support and felt more efficacious in their relationships, relative to those characterized by less support and less efficacy, experienced more depressive symptoms. In the context of marital violence, increasing levels of relationship efficacy and perceptions of spouse support may be accompanied by an increase in the risk for depressive reactions.     

Associations of Personality Traits and Childhood Insult Experience with Perceived Husbands’ Psychological Aggression among Iranian Women

Psychological aggression against wives is a social problem in all societies. To analyze possible predictive factors of psychological aggression against wives, this study examined 398 women selected through multi-stage stratified sampling techniques. Research participants responded to the Conflict Tactics Scale, questions about childhood insult experience, and the Five-Factor Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI). Results showed that 86 % of respondents experienced psychological aggression from their husbands during the last year. Results also revealed that 46.7 % and 43.3 % of respondents were targets of insults during childhood by their mothers and fathers, respectively. Childhood insult experience and neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness personality traits predicted psychological aggression by husbands against their wives. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that neuroticism was a significant predictor of minor and severe psychological aggression against wives. The results highlighted the importance of childhood insult experience and personality traits in explaining the severity of psychological aggression against wives in Tehran, Iran.     

Long-Term Effects of Witnessing Marital Violence for Women: The Contribution of Childhood Physical and Sexual Abuse

A sample of 313 college women completed a questionnaire about experiences with violence in childhood and adulthood and adult adjustment and relationship functioning. Nine percent of the women reported having witnessed some type of physical conflict between their parents. Witnessing marital violence was associated with other family mental health risks, childhood physical and sexual abuse, and adult physical assaults by strangers. Women who witnessed marital violence reported more symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder than other women, after family background and abuse variables were accounted for. Significant interactions between witnessing marital violence and childhood physical abuse were observed for measures of social avoidance and predictability in partner relationships, indicating that the effects of witnessing marital violence depended on the presence of childhood abuse. Implications of these results for research and interventions are discussed.