Research argues that coercive control (CC) is a special case of intimate partner violence (IPV). The present study hypothesized that instead CC is the motivator for other types of IPV, with control of the victim as the goal. When CC fails, physical types of IPV are used. This hypothesized relationship was tested using a large matched sample of 762 divorcing couples participating in divorce mediation. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data with CC predicting two latent common factors of the overall level of victimization separately for men and women. Significant causal relationships between CC and the latent construct of victimization for both members of the couples were found. In addition, CC, psychological abuse, sexual assault/intimidation/coercion, threats of and severe physical violence were disproportionately reported as perpetrated by men against women whereas reports of physical abuse (e.g., pushing, shoving, scratching) were not.

The role of hostile attributional style (HAS) in antisocial development has been well-documented. We analyzed longitudinal data on 585 youths (48% female; 19% ethnic minority) to test the hypothesis that response evaluation and decision (RED) mediates the relation between HAS and antisocial behavior in adolescence. In Grades 10 and 12, adolescent participants and their parents reported participants’ antisocial conduct. In Grade 11, participants were asked to imagine themselves in videotaped ambiguous-provocation scenarios. Segment 1 of each scenario presented an ambiguous provocation, after which participants answered HAS questions. In segment 2, participants were asked to imagine themselves responding aggressively to the provocateur, after which RED was assessed. Structural equation modeling indicated that RED mediates the relation between HAS and subsequent antisocial conduct, controlling for previous misconduct. Findings are consistent with research on the development of executive function processes in adolescence, and suggest that the relation between HAS and RED changes after childhood.

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The role of hostile attributional style (HAS) in antisocial development has been well-documented. We analyzed longitudinal data on 585 youths (48% female; 19% ethnic minority) to test the hypothesis that response evaluation and decision (RED) mediates the relation between HAS and antisocial behavior in adolescence. In Grades 10 and 12, adolescent participants and their parents reported participants' antisocial conduct. In Grade 11, participants were asked to imagine themselves in videotaped ambiguous-provocation scenarios. Segment 1 of each scenario presented an ambiguous provocation, after which participants answered HAS questions. In segment 2, participants were asked to imagine themselves responding aggressively to the provocateur, after which RED was assessed. Structural equation modeling indicated that RED mediates the relation between HAS and subsequent antisocial conduct, controlling for previous misconduct. Findings are consistent with research on the development of executive function processes in adolescence, and suggest that the relation between HAS and RED changes after childhood. KeywordsSocial cognition; Social information processing; Hostile attributional style; Decision making; Aggression; Antisocial behavior; Adolescence © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Correspondence to: Reid Griffith Fontaine, rgf2@u.arizona.edu. presented at the 20th biennial meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development in Würzburg, Germany, where this research was first presented. NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript J Abnorm Child Psychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2013 July 29. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptDuring the past quarter century, social information processing (SIP) models have received a considerable amount of theoretical and empirical attention (Crick and Dodge 1994;Dodge 1980;Fontaine 2006;Huesmann 1998;McFall 1982). The SIP model advanced by Crick and Dodge (1994) proposes a series of social-cognitive and cognitive-emotional processes (or steps) in the development of social competence and behavior across the life course. In the first step, the individual perceives and organizes information about the social stimulus (encoding of cues). The individual then makes attributions of causation, affect, and intent to the stimulus and assesses the relevance of the stimulus to his or her own personal well-being (interpretation of cues). Next, the individual identifies his or her goals to which the situation at hand may relate (clarification of goals). Fourth, the responding individual generates one or more responses, either by constructing responses anew or by accessing previously constructed responses from memory (response access or construction). Fifth and finally, the responding individual assesses his or her response options across evaluative domains in order to select a response for behavioral enactment (response decision).A considerable literature has been dedicated to the role of SIP mechanisms in the development...

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