College Women's Aggression in Relationships: The Role of Childhood and Adolescent Victimization

Abstract

Despite growing evidence suggesting that women engage in verbal and physical dating aggression, there is a dearth of research examining the predictors of women's engagement in these behaviors. Utilizing a college sample, the purpose of the current study was to explore women's perpetration of dating aggression within the context of victimization experiences. Women (N = 374) completed surveys at the beginning and end of a 10-week academic quarter for course credit. Results from two retrospective regression analyses (all Time 1 variables) suggested that (1) paternal physical abuse and adolescent/adulthood verbal victimization predicted women's reports of verbal perpetration and (2) childhood sexual abuse, adolescent/adulthood verbal victimization, adolescent/adulthood physical victimization, and adolescent/adulthood verbal perpetration predicted women's reports of physical perpetration. Results from the two prospective, longitudinal regression analyses suggested that (1) verbal perpetration (as measured at Time 1) and verbal victimization over the interim predicted women's reports of verbal perpetration over the interim and (2) physical perpetration (as measured at Time 1), verbal perpetration over the interim, and physical victimization over the interim predicted women's reports of physical perpetration over the interim. These data suggest the importance of considering previous victimization experiences, mutual partner aggression, and a history of aggressive behaviors when examining women's use of aggression in dating relationships. Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Katie M. Edwards, 200 Porter Hall,

Female intimate partner violence perpetration: stability and predictors of mutual and nonmutual aggression across the first year of college

“…Because IPV occurs within couples, individual risk factors are not sufficient to account for the level of aggression within a relationship. Numerous studies reveal that the best predictor of IPV perpetration is that person's experience of victimization within the relationship [Anderson, 2002; Baker and Stith, 2008; Edwards et al, 2009; Magdol et al, 1997], a pattern consistent with studies showing that most IPV is mutual. Nonetheless, there is little consensus as to how mutual aggression might develop within a relationship.…”

Role of parathyroid hormone monitoring during parathyroidectomy

“…Women who endorsed one of the eight experiences when the perpetrator was more than 5 years older and/or force or the threat of force was used were considered to have CSA histories. An example of a noncontact CSA item is “Another person showed his/her sex organs to you.” An example of a contact CSA item is “Another person had intercourse (oral, vaginal, or anal) with you (any amount of penetration—ejaculation is not necessary).” Similar to previous research (e.g., Edwards, Desai, Gidycz, & VanWynsberghe, 2009; Edwards, Kearns, Calhoun, & Gidycz, 2009), women were grouped in the most severe category they endorsed (i.e., no experience of CSA, noncontact CSA, contact CSA, or attempted or completed rape) as CSA history was considered an ordinal variable (rated 0–3 based on severity). Risin and Koss (1987) conducted a study to assess the concurrent validity of the instrument.…”

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“…Diversas investigaciones realizadas tanto a nivel internacional como en el contexto español revelan la persistencia de los desequilibrios y desigualdades relacionados con el género en el ámbito universitario (Edwards, Desai, Gidycz, & Vanwynsberghe, 2009;Gross, Winslett, Roberts, & Ghom, 2006;López, & Pérez, 2014). Si bien en España existe un marco legal favorable que ha permitido la reversión de una ventaja femenina con relación a la presencia masculina en la universidad, cuestión que ha sido observada y analizada por científicos y académicos sociales (véase Buchmann, DiPrete, & McDaniel, 2008;Goldin, Katz, & Kuziemko, 2006), las mujeres aún se enfrentan a una serie de barreras relacionadas con el género para lograr el éxito en carreras dominadas por los hombres como las ingenierías, que son catalogadas por la sociedad como carreras masculinas y competitivas (Stonyer, 2002).…”