Research has attempted to elucidate men and women’s proximal motivations for perpetrating intimate partner violence (IPV). However, previous research has yet to clarify and resolve contention regarding whether motives for IPV are gender-neutral or gender-specific. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare motives for physical IPV perpetration among a sample of men (n = 90) and women (n = 87) arrested for domestic violence and court referred to batterer intervention programs. Results demonstrated that the most frequently endorsed motives for IPV by both men and women were self-defense, expression of negative emotions, and communication difficulties. With the exception of expression of negative emotions and retaliation, with women endorsing these motives more often than men, there were no significant differences between men and women’s self-reported reasons for perpetrating physical aggression. The implications of these findings for future research and intervention programs are discussed.

Dating abuse (DA) victimization, alcohol use, and marijuana use are some of the most prevalent public health concerns among adolescents, particularly among Latinx adolescents. DA victimization was a robust predictor of subsequent alcohol and marijuana use among white and Black/African American adolescents, but existing longitudinal studies have not examined these relations among Latinx adolescents. The present study examined whether Latinx adolescents’ psychological and physical DA victimization predicted their alcohol and marijuana use one year later. We also explored sex differences in these relationships across time. A school-based sample of 315 Latinx adolescents (M age = 15.06 years; 52.6% girls) completed baseline, self-report assessments (Time 1 [T1]) and 89.6% of the sample completed follow-up assessments one year later (Time 2 [T2]). Results of a path analysis revealed that paths did not vary by sex. T1 psychological DA victimization predicted T2 alcohol use, but not T2 marijuana use. T1 physical DA victimization did not predict T2 alcohol or marijuana use; however, T1 marijuana use predicted T2 physical DA victimization. Latinx adolescents’ DA victimization may have important implications for subsequent substance use. Targeting alcohol use, marijuana use, and DA in culturally-grounded intervention programs may reduce Latinx adolescents’ continued victimization and substance misuse.

Women in treatment for substance use report higher levels of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and perpetration than the general population. Despite an abundance of research with this vulnerable population, no study has examined the research reactions of women in substance use treatment who participate in a study of IPV. Thus, we investigated the research reactions of women (N = 64) in substance use treatment who completed a self-report measure on their psychological, physical, and sexual IPV. We also examined whether shame proneness—an affective predisposition to scrutinize and criticize oneself— moderated the association between reports of IPV and negative emotional research reactions. This information is important for institutional review boards (IRBs) and researchers in determining the most ethical and appropriate protections for participants in IPV research. Findings demonstrated that victims and perpetrators of IPV did not differ from nonvictims/nonperpetrators on negative emotional research reactions. Victims of psychological aggression reported more positive research experiences than nonvictims. Shame proneness did not moderate the relationship between IPV reports (victimization or perpetration) and negative emotional reactions, although shame proneness did exert a main effect on negative emotional research reactions. Findings add to a growing body of research on participant reactions to IPV research. Our results further support the safety of self-report IPV research.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious, devastating, and prevalent problem. IPV places women at risk for negative health consequences, including increased mental health disorders. The majority of research to date has focused on mental health disorders among women in domestic violence shelters, and research is needed that examines mental health disorders among a broader range of women experiencing IPV. Therefore, this study examined the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and substance abuse disorders in a community sample of IPV victims (N = 94) using diagnostic interviews. Results showed that the majority of women met diagnostic criteria for a mental health disorder, with PTSD being the most common mental health disorder. Furthermore, psychological abuse was a significant predictor of both PTSD and depression, whereas physical aggression did not predict these outcomes. Implications of these findings for treatment and intervention work with battered women are discussed.

Previous research has suggested that the occurrence of dating violence is influenced by various motivations, including self-defense. While some data have suggested that females are more likely to use physical aggression in self-defense, assessment measures of self-defense have been limited in several notable ways, hindering efforts at fully understanding the myriad of reasons contributing to self-defensive aggression. The current study sought to examine motivations for physical aggression among male and female college students using a contextual self-report measure of self-defensive aggression designed specifically for the current study. Results showed that numerous motivations for physical aggression were endorsed by both males and females and, contrary to expectations, females were not more likely to use aggression in self-defense. Implications of these findings for future research and dating violence prevention programming are discussed.

Violence between dating couples is a serious and prevalent problem among college students (Shorey, Cornelius, & Bell, 2008). Social-cognitive theories of aggression (e.g., Berkowitz, 1990) propose that perpetrators may have more maladaptive cognitive schemas that increase risk for aggression than non-perpetrators. Thus, this study examined differences between perpetrators and non-perpetrators of dating violence on early maladaptive schemas, which are rigidly held cognitive and behavioral patterns that guide how individuals encode and respond to stimuli in their environments (Young, Klosko, & Weishaar, 2003). Within a sample of female (n = 242) and male (n = 193) college students, results demonstrated that many early maladaptive schema domains were associated with psychological and physical dating violence perpetration, although mostly for women. In addition, the schema domain of impaired autonomy showed medium-to-large differences between female perpetrators and non-perpetrators, whereas the domain of impaired limits showed a medium-to-large difference for male perpetrators and non-perpetrators of physical aggression. These findings add to a growing body of literature on risk factors for dating violence, suggesting that early maladaptive schemas may be associated with individual differences in aggression risk. The results also further support social-cognitive models of aggressive behavior.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major problem. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of research on the associations between IPV perpetration, victimization, and mental health among women. This study examined these associations among a sample of women arrested for domestic violence and court-referred to batterer intervention programs (BIPs; N = 88). Using self-report screening instruments for Axis I and Axis II mental health problems, results showed very high rates of mental health problems among women. In addition, both IPV perpetration and victimization were associated with increased mental health symptoms. Women who met diagnostic cutoff scores reported greater IPV perpetration/victimization than women who did not meet those cutoff scores. Implications of these findings for future research and IPV interventions are discussed.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health problem. Research and theory suggests that emotion dysregulation is an important correlate of IPV and thus may be a fruitful target of intervention efforts. However, examination of emotion dysregulation among women arrested for domestic violence, an understudied population, is nonexistent. The current study extended prior research by examining what components of emotion dysregulation related to IPV perpetration while controlling for substance misuse and antisocial traits, two robust correlates of IPV, in women arrested for domestic violence and court-ordered to batterer intervention programs (N = 71). In the current study, the emotion dysregulation component of Impulse Control Difficulties was significantly associated with the perpetration of physical IPV. Findings suggest a link between impulse control during negative emotional experiences and the perpetration of IPV among women arrested for domestic violence. Implications regarding findings and future research and intervention applications are discussed.

It is estimated that upward of 15.5 million children live in homes where they are exposed to physical and psychological intimate partner violence (IPV). Research indicates that IPV can have deleterious effects on children, including a variety of psychosocial problems, although there is much variability in outcomes of children exposed to IPV. Individual characteristics of the parents involved in IPV may be an important predictor of negative psychosocial outcomes for children. The current study expanded upon prior research and examined the simultaneous associations of paternal characteristics, including paternal IPV perpetration, and child psychosocial functioning (i.e., externalizing, internalizing, and attentional problems) among 153 men arrested for domestic violence and court ordered to attend batterer intervention programs. Analyses examined the relations between paternal alcohol and drug use, antisocial personality traits, hostility, posttraumatic stress symptoms, distress tolerance, IPV perpetration, and men's ratings of their child's psychosocial functioning. Results indicated that poor overall child psychosocial functioning was positively related to paternal antisocial personality symptoms and hostility. Subscale analyses revealed that child attentional problems were positively related to paternal hostility. Child externalizing problems were positively associated with paternal antisocial personality symptoms. The implications of these findings for future research and intervention are discussed.

Preliminary research has demonstrated the utility of bystander interventions in reducing sexual assault (Coker et al., 2011; Moynihan & Banyard, 2008), and initial research has begun extending this type of intervention to dating violence broadly (i.e., physical and psychological aggression). However, there are many unexplored factors that may increase or decrease the likelihood that individuals will engage in bystander behavior. One such factor is previous experiences with dating violence and sexual assault. Thus, this study examined prior dating violence and sexual assault experiences and endorsement of bystander behaviors in a large sample of college students (N = 2,430). We hypothesized that individuals with a history of dating and sexual assault victimization would be more likely to report engaging in bystander behaviors relative to nonvictims. The relationship between prior dating violence perpetration on bystander behavior was also explored. Results demonstrated that individuals with physical and sexual, but not psychological, victimization histories reported more frequent bystander behavior. Furthermore, perpetrators of physical violence were more likely than nonperpetrators to report bystander behavior, particularly among females. Findings provide preliminary evidence that prior experiences with dating violence and sexual assault may impact bystander behavior. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Dating violence is a serious problem among college students. Research indicates that females perpetrate as much, if not more, psychological and physical aggression against their dating partners relative to their male counterparts. Unfortunately, there is considerably less research on risk factors for female-perpetrated dating violence, hindering efforts aimed at preventing violence in their relationships. This study examined 2 risk factors for female-perpetrated dating violence, namely alcohol use and emotion regulation, within a sample of undergraduate female college students (N = 379). Using structural equation modeling, results demonstrated that emotion regulation was associated with psychological aggression perpetration, and this was partially mediated by alcohol use. Moreover, a 2-chain mediation was present, such that emotion regulation deficits predicted alcohol use, which in turn predicted psychological aggression, which finally predicted physical aggression. These findings are consistent with theoretical models of dating violence and indicate that intervention programs should focus their efforts on increasing adaptive emotion regulation, decreasing alcohol use, and reducing psychological aggression.

Stalking is a form of dating violence that has typically been studied after relationship termination, despite evidence suggesting that stalking often occurs within current dating relationships. Consequently, there is a dearth of research on correlates of stalking perpetration among intact dating relationships. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to examine correlates of stalking perpetration among college men and women in intact dating relationships (N = 627) in order to identify possible risk factors for stalking perpetration. Using the dating violence literature and theoretical models for intimate partner violence perpetration as a guide, two potential correlates of stalking were examined: emotion regulation and anger management. Results demonstrated that anger management was positively correlated with stalking perpetration in men and women, and emotion regulation was also consistently correlated to stalking perpetration in women. Given that this is the first known study to examine correlates of stalking perpetration behaviors in dating college students, our findings provide a base from which additional investigations can be developed.

Recent research has demonstrated the devastating impact of female-perpetrated psychological aggression in intimate relationships broadly and dating relationships specifically. With the perpetration of psychological aggression in dating relationships occurring at shockingly high rates, prevention programming for dating violence should target this form of aggression. Toward this end, it is important to understand the antecedent conditions that increase one’s risk for perpetrating psychological aggression. This study sought to examine two possible risk factors for perpetrating psychological aggression among female undergraduates (N = 145), namely, emotion regulation and trait anger. Findings showed that difficulties with emotion regulation and trait anger were associated with increased psychological aggression perpetration, and trait anger mediated the link between emotion regulation and psychological aggression. Implications of these findings for prevention programming and future research are discussed.

Given the high prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) among U.S. college students and their frequent use of technological devices (e.g., mobile phones, computers), there is widespread concern that psychological aggression may be occurring via such devices, termed cyber psychological aggression. The purpose of this study was (a) to examine the prevalence and frequency of perpetration and victimization of cyber psychological aggression, (b) to examine the association between cyber psychological aggression and traditional forms and modes of aggression (i.e., physical and face-to-face psychological aggression), and (c) to examine gender differences in the prevalence and frequency of cyber psychological aggression. College students (N = 345) in dating relationships completed the Cyber Psychological Abuse Scale (Leisring & Giumetti, 2014) and the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy, & Sugarman, 1996) for this study. Results indicated that 73% of males and 77% of females reported committing at least one act of cyber psychological aggression against their partner in their relationship. In addition, 74% of males and 72% of females reported being the victim of cyber psychological aggression in their relationship. No gender differences in the prevalence or frequency of minor cyber psychological aggression perpetration or victimization were found. Men, however, were more likely to report both perpetration and victimization of severe cyber abuse than women. Cyber psychological aggression was positively associated with traditional forms of physical and psychological aggression. The implications of these findings for future research and violence prevention programs are discussed.

Individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) evidenced high levels of aggression both before and after the onset of opioid misuse. Continued aggression after abstinence suggested that abstinence alone may be inadequate. The present study investigated dispositional mindfulness in relation to aggressive attitudes, and verbal and physical aggression, by reviewing medical records of 163 adults in residential treatment for OUD. Results of hierarchical regression analyses, controlling for age and alcohol/drug use and problems, revealed a negative relationship between dispositional mindfulness and both aggressive attitudes and verbal aggression. Although dispositional mindfulness negatively related to physical aggression at the bivariate level, only alcohol use and problems related to physical aggression in regression analyses. Mindfulness-based treatments may be a useful avenue for targeting aggression within this population.

Objectives: The primary goal of this study is to qualitatively examine reinforcing and punishing consequences following the perpetration of physical aggression by women in dating relationships because recent theoretical conceptualizations of intimate partner violence have emphasized an examination of such consequences. Method: Participants were 25 undergraduate women in current dating relationships who reported previous perpetration of physical dating violence and completed a qualitative, theoretically based interview on the consequences of their aggression perpetration. Results: Findings demonstrated that violent episodes resulted in both reinforcing and punishing consequences, with 100% of instances resulting in reinforcing consequences for the perpetrator and 76% classified as punishing, which were divided into 15 different classes of outcomes. Conclusions: These findings suggest that dating violence prevention programming could focus their efforts on increasing use of nonaggressive behaviors leading to reinforcing outcomes among dating couples during conflict resolution. This also has important implications for theoretical models of intimate partner violence.

This study examined the meditational effect of self-efficacy on the relation between enacted social support and perceived quality of relationship alternatives among an economically disadvantaged community sample of 101 female intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors. Three types of support—directive guidance, nondirective guidance, and positive social exchange—were positively associated with self-efficacy. In each case, the effect of enacted social support on perceived quality of relationship alternatives was fully mediated by women’s self-efficacy. Support in the form of tangible assistance was unrelated to women’s self-efficacy. Above and beyond the impact of each type of social support, non-White ethnicity and frequency of physical violence were negatively associated with self-efficacy. However, race and violence frequency did not impact the mediational effect of self-efficacy. These findings support the inclusion of women’s support networks in advocacy and therapeutic work with IPV survivors.

There is a growing impetus within the field of aggression research to further elucidate the risk factors, predictors, and correlates of dating violence (DV), particularly among dating couples. Of particular importance is understanding the proximal motivations, or reasons, for DV and whether these motivations differ for men and women. Research examining the motivations for DV has focused almost entirely on physical violence, and findings regarding gender differences in DV motivations have been mixed (Langhinrichsen-Rohling, McCullars, & Misra, 2012). To our knowledge, limited research has examined the motivations for psychological aggression among dating college students, and no research has directly compared men and women’s motivations for psychological aggression. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the motivations for psychological aggression among dating college students (N = 216), and whether these motivations differed by gender. Results demonstrated that expression of negative emotions, jealousy, and communication difficulties were the most frequently endorsed motive categories for both men and women. Men and women did not differ on any motive category. Despite the preliminary nature of this study, several research and clinical implications are addressed.

Psychological aggression between intimate partners has been found to occur at high rates in college populations, but the reliability and validity of the self-report measures used to gather this information have been criticized. Some studies indicate item order may affect self-reports of victimization and perpetration of violent behaviors. In this study, we administered standardized and randomized formats of the Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse (MMEA; Murphy & Hoover, 1999) to study the impact question order had on self-reports of psychological aggression victimization and perpetration. Results demonstrated that women reported more frequent perpetration and victimization than men on some MMEA subscales. Furthermore, those who took the standardized format of the MMEA reported more frequent perpetration and victimization on some MMEA subscales than those who took the randomized format. However, no significant interaction effects were found between gender and format. Overall, these mixed results warrant further research on item order effects with self-report measures of intimate partner violence.

Recent evidence suggests that victims of dating violence consume alcohol at greater rates than their nonvictimized peers, placing them at risk for the negative consequences produced by alcohol use. Thus, research that examines factors that protect victims from consuming alcohol is needed. Toward this end, the present study sought to examine whether perceived support served as a stress-buffering (moderating) variable on the relationship between dating violence victimization and alcohol problems among a sample of currently dating college students (N = 440). Partial support was found for the stress-buffering effect of perceived support, but this varied depending on the type of victimization examined. Implications of these findings for victim interventions and dating violence prevention programming are discussed.

Psychological aggression in females’ dating relationships has received increased empirical attention in recent years. However, researchers have used numerous measures of psychological aggression and various scoring methods with these measures, making it difficult to compare across studies on psychological aggression. In addition, research has yet to examine whether different scoring methods for psychological aggression measures may affect the psychometric properties of these instruments. This study examined three self-report measures of psychological aggression within a sample of female college students (N = 108), including their psychometric properties when scored using frequency, sum, and variety scores. Results showed that the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2) had variable internal consistency depending on the scoring method used and good validity; the Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse (MMEA) and the Follingstad Psychological Aggression Scale (FPAS) both had good internal consistency and validity across scoring methods. Implications of these findings for the assessment of psychological aggression and future research are discussed.

Dating violence is a prevalent problem among female college students. Several researchers have called for a continued investigation of risk and protective factors for aggression that can be modified through prevention programming. Mindfulness, the ability to be aware and open to the present moment in a nonjudgmental manner (Kabat-Zinn, 1994), may be one such protective factor. However, we are unaware of research that has examined whether individuals higher in mindfulness report less dating violence perpetration. This study investigated this question within a sample of female undergraduate students (N = 379). Findings demonstrated that several facets of mindfulness, particularly describing, acting with awareness, and nonreactivity, were associated with less psychological or physical aggression perpetration in the previous year. Moreover, several mindfulness facets were able to differentiate individuals with a history of perpetration relative to individuals without a history of perpetration. These findings provide preliminary evidence that mindfulness may play an important role in dating violence. Directions for future research on the relation between mindfulness and dating violence are discussed.