Examining the correlates of psychological aggression among a community sample of couples.

Abstract

In this study, the authors examined the correlates of psychological aggression victimization and perpetration among a community sample of 145 heterosexual couples. For both women and men, psychological aggression victimization was associated with greater psychological distress, anxiety, and physical health symptoms beyond the effects of physical aggression. Psychological aggression victimization was also uniquely associated with higher levels of depression for women. Trait anger and poor relationship adjustment were the strongest correlates of psychological aggression perpetration across genders. Childhood father-to-child and father-to-mother aggressions were associated with psychological aggression perpetration for men only, suggesting possible distinct etiologies across genders. These data highlight the importance of the further development of models for psychological aggression in both women and men.

Psychological victimization as a risk factor for the developmental course of marriage.

“…Kim et al (2008) found that men's psychological aggression was negatively associated with their own and their partner's relationship satisfaction. Finally, Taft et al (2006) found that men and women's relationship adjustment were concurrently and negatively related to their perpetration of psychological aggression.…”

Intimate partner psychological aggression and child behavior problems

“…In- timate partner violence usually co-occurs with psychological aggression, which has recently been shown to be associated with psychological distress and trauma-related symptomatology in both shelter and community samples (Arias & Pape, 1999;Taft et al, 2006). Though research in this area is limited, some recent evidence among women in domestic violence shelters (Levendosky & GrahamBermann, 2001) and partners of abusers in treatment (Panuzio, Taft, Black, Koenen, & Murphy, in press) suggests that interparental psychological aggression may have a robust, unique association with child behavior problems.…”

Trajectories of Physical and Emotional Marital Aggression in Midlife Couples

“…Other samples reveal that as many as 21% of couples report intimate physical aggression each year (McDonald, Jouriles, Ramisetty-Mikler, Caetano, & Green, 2006). Research has shown that intimate relationship aggression has deleterious mental and physical health consequences for women (Bonomi et al, 2006;Coker, et al, 2002;Loxton, Schofield, & Hussain, 2006), as well as some negative health consequences for men (Coker, et al, 2002;Simonelli & Ingram, 1998;Taft et al, 2006). Assessments of intimate physical aggression based on lifetime incidence or 12-month prevalence data fail to capture the variability in partner aggression across time, particularly for couples in long-term relationships.…”

“…This distinction theoretically contextualizes aggression in community samples (typically situational couple violence) in relation to more traditional notions of domestic violence (i.e., intimate terrorism), and underscores the importance of examining both husband and wife aggression. This study will also examine emotional or psychological aggression, which some women have reported being even more upsetting than physical abuse they have experienced (Follingstad, et al, 1990), which causes harm, even in the absence of physical aggression (Marshal, 1996;Pico-Alfonso et al, 2006;Taft et al, 2006), and which victims have identified as a primary variable in the assessment of their safety (Cattaneo, 2007). Although most research on emotional aggression has focused on female victims, consistent gender differences have not been found (Coker, et al, 2002;Hamby & Sugarman, 1999;Hines & Saudino, 2003;Swan & Snow, 2002).…”