Physical and mental health outcomes of women in nonviolent, unilaterally violent, and mutually violent relationships

Despite equivocal findings on whether men or women are more violent, the negative impact of violence is greatest for women. To determine how gender asymmetry in perpetration affects women's health status, we conducted a study in two phases with 835 African American, Euro-American, and Mexican American low-income women in Project HOW: Health Outcomes of Women. In Phase 1, we used severity and frequency of women's and male partners' violence to create six groups: nonviolent (NV), uni-directional male (UM) perpetrator, uni-directional female (UF) perpetrator and, when both partners were violent, symmetrical (SYM), male primary perpetrator (MPP), and female primary perpetrator (FPP). The MPP group sustained the most threats, violence, sexual aggression, and psychological abuse. They also reported the most fear. Injury was highest in the MPP and FPP groups. In Phase 2, we examined group differences in women's health status over time for 535 participants, who completed five annual interviews. Surprisingly, women's health in the MPP and FPP violence groups was similar and generally worse than if violence was uni-directional.     

Sexual Coercion,Verbal Aggression,and Condom Use Consistency Among College Students

Abstract

Objective: The relationship between condom use and 2 less visible categories of intimate partner violence (IPV), sexual coercion and verbal aggression, was examined among college students. Methods: In March 2007 a random cross-sectional sample of undergraduates from the southeast region of the United States was taken to collect information about sexual coercion and verbal aggression, in addition to condom use consistency. Alcohol use was also assessed. Results: Of the 142 participants, 31.7% reported being victims of sexual coercion, and 78% reported having verbally aggressive partners. Participants who reported experiencing sexual coercion in their relationship were significantly less likely to consistently use condoms. Additionally, alcohol use before or during episodes of verbal aggression was negatively associated with condom use. Alcohol use was also significantly associated with heightened incidents of coercion and aggression. Conclusions: Results indicate that among college students, the presence of sexual coercion adversely affects condom use, as does alcohol use.     

Gender differences and socioeconomic status biases in judgments about blame in date rape scenarios

Participants (80 men, 80 women) read hypothetical date rape scenarios, wherein the perpetrator's socioeconomic status (bus driver versus doctor) and the victim's level of resistance (verbal versus verbal and physical) were varied, and made judgments about who was at fault and what the consequences should be. In general, men assigned more blame to the victim and less blame to the perpetrator than did women. However, men assigned more blame to the bus driver than to the doctor. Women, on the other hand, assigned more blame to the victim who was raped by the bus driver than to the victim who was raped by the doctor. The results also indicated that participants recommended harsher punishments for the perpetrator when the victim resisted verbally than when she resisted verbally and physically. Future research on the role of the perpetrator's, the victim's, and the participants' socioeconomic status in judgments about date rape is suggested.     

Female harassment after ending a relationship: A preliminary study

While dramatic instances of male aggression directed toward women, such as rape and wife battering, have been frequently studied, a more subtle form of male aggression—female harassment—has been investigated less often. In the present study, 50 women who had terminated relationships with males and then were harassed were interviewed. In general, the harassment lasted for about a year, and episodes which occurred on a daily basis consisted of calls, letters, visits to home or work, being followed, verbal threats, and physical aggression. For the most part, these aggressive actions were perceived as both threatening and disturbing. Findings indicated that assertive female strategies were not more effective in reducing harassment than more sex-role stereotyped passive and nonassertive responses to male aggression. In the second phase of this study a sample of college undergraduates was interviewed on the topic of harassment. Fifty-six percent of the women indicated that they had been harassed by men.My thanks to Lyn De Amicis and LaVome Robinson for their instructive and helpful comments.     

Characteristics of female perpetrators and victims of dating violence

Although many researchers have explored the topic of dating violence, limited attention has been paid to female perpetrators. Very little research has examined variables that facilitate aggression for females in dating relationships. In an effort to investigate distinct types of violent behavior, the present study separated females who experience dating violence into three categories (bi-directional aggression, perpetrator-only, and victim-only) and compared them with a control group not previously exposed to interpersonal violence. The purpose of this study was to examine variables that discriminate violent females from non-violent females. Variables that were hypothesized to be associated with aggressive behavior and investigated in the current study were interparental aggression, self-esteem, love attitudes, and alcohol use. Three hundred female college students responded to multiple self-report questionnaires examining psychological correlates of dating violence. Females in the bi-directional aggression group were more likely to have witnessed their father abuse their mother and scored significantly lower on a measure of self-esteem than non-violent controls. Females in the control group demonstrated higher scores on a measure of mature and selfless love style than did the victim or perpetrator-only participants. There were no significant group differences regarding general alcohol consumption. Implications for prevention and intervention are presented and discussed.     

Till Discord Do Us Part: The Role of Physical and Verbal Conflict in Union Disruption

The focus of this study was the extent to which physical aggression and, to a lesser extent, verbal conflict predict relationship dissolution in a national sample. Data were from a 5‐ to 7‐year follow‐up of 3,508 married and cohabiting couples in the National Survey of Families and Households. Controlling for demographic factors and verbal conflict, male violence significantly elevated the risk of disruption between waves. Female violence was not a predictor of disruption. Much of the effect of male violence was accounted for by its association with reduced relationship quality. The impact of male violence did not appear to differ according to the female partner's socioeconomic resources or whether couples were in formal or informal unions.     

Russian Perspectives on Elder Abuse: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this exploratory study was to analyze Russian perceptions of elder abuse as reflected in their examples of abusive behavior from an adult child to an aging parent. Also of interest was the possibility of gender differences in the Russian perspectives on elder abuse. The convenience sample consisted of 21 Russian participants (10 males, 10 females, and one without gender identified), who provided examples of extreme, moderate, and mild abuse from an adult child towards an aging parent. Most examples of extreme abuse were forms of physical violence. Typical examples of moderate abuse were instances of psychological aggression–particularly verbal aggression–and neglect. The most common examples of mild abuse were verbal aggression and neglect. One-way analyses of variance revealed statistically significant gender differences in the number of references to psychological aggression in general and to verbal aggression in particular in the examples of moderate abuse, with females giving more examples than males.     

Russian perspectives on elder abuse: an exploratory study

The purpose of this exploratory study was to analyze Russian perceptions of elder abuse as reflected in their examples of abusive behavior from an adult child to an aging parent. Also of interest was the possibility of gender differences in the Russian perspectives on elder abuse. The convenience sample consisted of 21 Russian participants (10 males, 10 females, and one without gender identified), who provided examples of extreme, moderate, and mild abuse from an adult child towards an aging parent. Most examples of extreme abuse were forms of physical violence. Typical examples of moderate abuse were instances of psychological aggression-particularly verbal aggression-and neglect. The most common examples of mild abuse were verbal aggression and neglect. One-way analyses of variance revealed statistically significant gender differences in the number of references to psychological aggression in general and to verbal aggression in particular in the examples of moderate abuse, with females giving more examples than males.     

Exploring the Intention to React to Aggressive Action Among Israeli Adolescents

The aim of the current study was to explore male and female adolescents' intentions to react to verbal and physical aggression issued by other males and females of the same age. The study is based on a sample of 292 male and female adolescents from 12 classes in four schools in northern Israel, two junior‐high and two high‐schools, 46.7% were males and 53.3% females. Sixteen short scenarios were presented to the interviewees, consisting of eight verbal provocations (four by males and four by females) and eight physical provocations. The results indicated that girls and boys perceived provocation differently. Males are more “gender oriented,” whereas girls are more “content oriented,” Males attend more to details of physical aggression, whereas females to details of verbal aggression. Yet, males are most concerned with the gender of the provocateur, whereas females are more attentive to the severity of the provocation, thus differentiating between verbal and physical forms of provocation, as representing different levels of attack, and within each form, differentiating along a continuum of severity of the attack. The results are discussed within the theoretical framework of reactive aggression.     

Dating violence in young Mexican couples: a dyadic analysis / Agresiones en el noviazgo de universitarios mexicanos: un análisis diádico

This study analyses the frequency, perception, bidirectionality and degree of agreement in the occurrence of aggression committed and suffered in 100 heterosexual couples. The selection of the sample was non-probabilistic, with 100 Mexican male-and-female dyads (age range 18 to 25). We used a virtual questionnaire which evaluated the frequency of psychological, mild physical and sexual aggression committed and suffered by each member of the dyads. Psychological aggression was the most frequent, and no significant differences were found by sex except in sexual aggression committed by men. The women more often underestimated both the aggression they suffered from and that which they committed, primarily sexual aggression. Bidirectionality was found in all three kinds of aggression, and there was greater agreement between couples when the women were the aggressors than when the men were the perpetrators. More studies are needed on couple violence that include the perspective of both members of the dyad.     

Perceived threats of female infidelity, male proprietariness, and violence in college dating couples

According to evolutionary theory, men faced the adaptive problem of keeping their partners sexually faithful. In the current study, men's perception that their partners are interested in other men was hypothesized to be associated with more controlling behaviors in romantic relationships. Of the two dimensions of mating tactics, controlling and attentive behaviors, physically aggressive men were expected to be especially controlling, but not attentive. Using structural equation modeling with 116 college dating couples, women who reported greater interest in other men were perceived by their partners to do so and these men also exhibited more controlling behaviors, which were associated with physical aggression. Men's perception of women's interest in others was a more important predictor of male violence than women's actual interest in other men. The link between women's control tactics and their use of physical violence differed from men.     

The relation of sensitivity to provocation and frustration to direct aggression: the mediating role of beliefs about aggression / La relación entre la sensibilidad a la provocación y a la frustración y la agresión directa: el papel mediador de las creencias sobre la agresión

Previous research has suggested that sensitivity to provocation and frustration differently predict aggressive behaviour. In the study reported in this paper, two potential mediators of the relationships among both sensitivities and self-reported aggression were examined, namely instrumental and expressive beliefs about aggression. A sample of 318 participants (52% men) took part in the study. Structural Equation Modeling demonstrated that sensitivity to provocation was related to both types of beliefs about aggression, whereas sensitivity to frustration was associated with expressive beliefs. However, only instrumental beliefs mediated the relationship between sensitivity to provocation and both physical and verbal aggression. Analysed variables predicted 46% of the variance in physical aggression and 11% of the variance in verbal aggression. Additionally, men reported higher physical aggression and endorsed more instrumental beliefs than women. Implications for understanding emotional and cognitive mechanisms involved in regulation of aggression are discussed.     

Relations between youths' community violence exposure and their physical aggression: The protective role of adults

The purpose of this study was to examine whether adults moderated the relations between youths' community violence exposure and subsequent physical aggression. Participants were 2575 middle school students (M_age = 12.3, SD = 1.00; 52% female) in the southeastern U.S. who completed surveys collected in the fall, winter, spring, and summer. The sample was predominantly African American (72%). High adult support was associated with weaker relations between exposure to violence in the fall and aggression in the winter among male adolescents. High adult support was related to weaker relations between victimization in the fall and aggression in the winter among female adolescents. Strategies promoting supportive adult relationships may benefit male adolescents by buffering the adverse impact of community violence exposure.     

A review of research on women's use of violence with male intimate partners

This article provides a review of research literature on women who use violence with intimate partners. The central purpose is to inform service providers in the military and civilian communities who work with domestically violent women. The major points of this review are as follows: (a) women's violence usually occurs in the context of violence against them by their male partners; (b) in general, women and men perpetrate equivalent levels of physical and psychological aggression, but evidence suggests that men perpetrate sexual abuse, coercive control, and stalking more frequently than women and that women also are much more frequently injured during domestic violence incidents; (c) women and men are equally likely to initiate physical violence in relationships involving less serious "situational couple violence," and in relationships in which serious and very violent "intimate terrorism" occurs, men are much more likely to be perpetrators and women victims; (d) women's physical violence is more likely than men's violence to be motivated by self-defense and fear, whereas men's physical violence is more likely than women's to be driven by control motives; (e) studies of couples in mutually violent relationships find more negative effects for women than for men; and (f) because of the many differences in behaviors and motivations between women's and men's violence, interventions based on male models of partner violence are likely not effective for many women.     

Physical aggression and control in heterosexual relationships: the effect of sampling

This study investigated the proposition by Johnson (1995) that there are distinct patterns of physical aggression within relationships, characterized as common couple violence and patriarchal terrorism. The present samples comprised students (N = 113), women from a domestic violence refuge (N = 44), and male prisoners (N = 108). Participants completed measures of physical aggression, controlling behavior, fear of injuries, and injuries. Reports of these measures were entered into a Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA). With the exception of self-reported use of controlling behavior, the variables showed univariately significant differences between the groups. The DFA produced two significant functions which together correctly classified 75% of cases. These results support the view that there are distinct patterns of aggressive relationships corresponding to those identified by Johnson (1995).     

Perceptions of motives in intimate partner violence: expressive versus coercive violence

This study examined perceptions of motives in the perpetration of intimate partner violence. Respondents (N = 401) of diverse professions read three vignettes and indicated their perception of the aggressor's motive (from 1 = Exclusively Expressive; 5 = Exclusively Coercive). Half of respondents read vignettes describing male-perpetrated violence against a female partner; the other half, female-perpetrated violence against a male partner. Overall, male-perpetrated aggression was seen as more coercive than female-perpetrated aggression, particularly by shelter workers and victim advocates. Further analyses revealed that men generally gave higher ratings than women, and that women rated female-perpetrated aggression as less coercive than male-perpetrated aggression. In contrast, men did not differ in their ratings of male versus female perpetration. Implications are discussed with respect to the assessment and treatment of partner violence.     

Examining verbal and physical retaliation against kinship insults

This study examined how different types of insults-social status insults and reproductive status insults--toward one's family and friends influenced the likelihood of verbal and physical retaliation. Participants were given a questionnaire containing scenarios in which a hypothetical person insulted each participant's sibling, cousin, or friend. Participants indicated they were significantly less likely to verbally retaliate when a cousin was insulted than when a sibling or friend was insulted. Men were more likely to physically retaliate toward male insulters. Women were more likely to physically retaliate toward female insulters. Women were more likely to verbally retaliate than men, but only when the insulter was female. Both men and women were more likely to retaliate when a woman was insulted.     

Exerting power or striking back: a gendered comparison of motivations for domestic violence perpetration

This study compares the motivations for using violence and the context in which violence occurs among male and female domestic violence perpetrators. One hundred twenty-five participants in batterer intervention counseling in Los Angeles County, California, were surveyed. The sample was approximately half male and half female. Males and females were found to differ in their motivations for using violence in relationships. Females reported using violence in response to prior abuse, citing revenge and retaliation as a primary motivation. Because treatment approaches are commonly derived from the power and control model, which indicates that violence is used to gain power and control, batterer intervention counseling may not be appropriate for women, who appear more motivated by the desire to maintain personal liberties in a relationship where they have been victimized. Treatment must walk the fine line between addressing victimization issues and holding women accountable for decisions to use violence.     

An examination of pathways from childhood victimization to violence: the role of early aggression and problematic alcohol use

Using prospective data from a cohort design study involving documented cases of child abuse and neglect and a matched control group, we examine two potential pathways between childhood victimization and violent criminal behavior: early aggressive behavior and problematic drinking. Structural equation models, including controls for race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, parental alcoholism, and parental criminality, revealed different pathways for men and women. For men, child maltreatment has direct and indirect (through aggressive behavior and problematic alcohol use) paths to violence. For women, problematic alcohol use mediates the relationship between childhood victimization and violence, and, independent of child maltreatment, early aggression leads to alcohol problems, which lead to violence. Interventions for victims of childhood maltreatment need to recognize the role of early aggressive behavior and alcohol problems as risk factors for subsequent violence.