Intergenerational transmission of violence and psychological aggression against wives.

Previous research is not clear on how violence in the family of origin translates into violence and aggression later in life. The author develops and estimates an empirical model in which M. Gottfredson and T. Hirschi's (1990) concept of self-control is specified to mediate the relationship between violence in the family of origin and conjugal psychological aggression. Data generated from the 1975 National Family Violence Survey of 2,143 respondents were used for the study. Psychological aggression was measured with the Conflict Tactics Scale, and self-control was operationalized as a continuous variable. There were 2 dimensions of physical punishment: fathers' and mothers'. Results suggest that fathers' violence is more likely to exert the aggression amplification effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Images of violence in Thematic Apperception Test stories

TAT stories written by 88 male and 50 female undergraduates were coded for the presence or absence of violent imagery and for the context in which the violence occurred. Results confirm previous findings of a greater incidence of violence in males' fantasy stories (M. S. Horner, see record 1973-09174-001) but extend these findings to show a sex difference in the distribution as well—violence in males' stories was more frequent in response to situations of affiliation, whereas violence in females' stories appeared more often in response to situations of achievement. Interpreting fantasies of violence as indicative of the perception of danger, it is suggested that males and females perceived danger in different contexts and construed danger in different ways. This study offers a new understanding of Horner's research and points to the relationship between impulsive expression and social perception, suggesting that the differences in aggression in males and females may be due to whether they perceive relationships as dangerous or safe. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factor structure and convergent validity of the Conflict Tactics Scale in high school students.

This study explored the factor structure of a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS; A A. Straus, 1979) in a large multiethnic high school sample. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic approaches were used. Results generally supported 2-factor models for males and females. A substantial proportion of residual variance remained after the 2 primary factors were extracted, and correlations among this residual variance suggested meaningful differences in the perpetration and experience of dating violence for males and females. Furthermore, the factor structure for males' self-reported victimization suggested that items representing psychological and mild physical aggression, which loaded on 1 factor, may be perceived similarly. Convergent validity analyses that examined the correlation among CTS traditional and factor scores with jealous actions, control tactics, and attitudes justifying males' and females' use of dating aggression provided initial support for the constructs identified. Results are discussed in terms of improving measurement of dating aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of drug use in a conceptual model of intimate partner violence in men and women arrested for domestic violence.

In a previous study, alcohol problems in perpetrators and their partners contributed directly and indirectly to intimate partner violence (IPV), even after including other correlates of violence in the model (G. L. Stuart et al., 2006). The present study extends these findings by examining the role of illicit drug use. We recruited 271 men and 135 women arrested for IPV and used structural equation modeling to examine the data. Results showed that drug use, as reported by the perpetrators, was a stronger predictor of IPV than were alcohol problems in perpetrators and their partners. Arrested males' marijuana use and stimulant use (i.e., cocaine and amphetamines) were associated with perpetration of IPV, and their report of their female partners' stimulant use was associated with her violence perpetration. In arrested women, specific substances used did not predict violence perpetration beyond other model variables; however, female perpetrators' report of male partners' stimulant use predicted male psychological and physical aggression, after controlling for other variables. These results provide further evidence that drug problems by both partners may be important in the evolution of aggression. Implications for batterer intervention programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The intergenerational transmission of relationship violence.

This study explored the intergenerational transmission of violence in a community sample. A telephone survey of 1,249 adults in the City of Vancouver assessed family-of-origin violence (father to mother, mother to father, father to self, and mother to self), as well as physical and psychological abuse in intimate relationships. All forms of family-of-origin violence were predictive of all forms of relationship abuse, consistent with a general social learning model of relationship violence. There was no evidence of gender-specific or role-specific patterns of transmission. For example, father-to-mother violence was not specifically predictive of men's perpetration and women's victimization in adult relationships. Nor was parent-to-self violence more predictive of victimization than perpetration. The methodological and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent and Partner Violence in Families With Young Children: Rates, Patterns, and Connections.

In this study, the authors assessed men's and women's partner and parent physical aggression among 453 representatively sampled families with young children. The prevalences of partner aggression and of severe parent aggression were higher than previously reported. Substantial rates of co-occurrence were found. Risk ratios and regression analyses indicated that connections between (a) husbands' and wives' partner aggression and (b) mothers' and fathers' parent aggression were especially strong. Patterns of co-occurrence pointed to the probable relative importance of family-level, in comparison with individual, predictors of aggression. Patterns of co-occurring violence are described in light of the theoretical literature. Implications for studying family violence in community samples are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of juvenile aggression and violence: Some common misconceptions and controversies.

This article addresses 5 misconceptions and controversies concerning the development of aggression and violence: (a) the misconception that high stability coefficients of aggression over time imply that discontinuity of aggression from childhood to early adulthood is negligible; (b) the misconception that all serious forms of violence have an origin in aggression during early childhood; (c) the controversy about whether a single pathway or multiple pathways best represent individuals' development of antisocial behavior, including violence; (d) the controversy about whether causes of violence are similar to the causes of property offending; and (e) the assumption that the development of violence in women is very similar to that in men. Each of the points is discussed against empirical findings. Theoretical, research, and applied implications of the 5 points are discussed (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reducing the adverse consequences of workplace aggression and violence: The buffering effects of organizational support.

This study examined the buffering effects of 2 types of organizational support--instrumental and informational--on the relationships between workplace violence/aggression and both personal and organizational outcomes. Based on data from 225 employees in a health care setting, a series of moderated multiple regression analyses demonstrated that organizational support moderated the effects of physical violence, vicariously experienced violence, and psychological aggression on emotional well-being, somatic health, and job-related affect, but not on fear of future workplace violence and job neglect. These findings have implications for both research and intervention related to workplace violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical violence and other forms of marital aggression: Links with children's behavior problems.

Two studies examined whether physical marital violence and other forms of marital aggression (e.g., threats, throwing objects) correlate with children's behavior problems in families marked by recent spousal violence. Study 1 included 55 families seeking marital therapy. Study 2 included 199 families at battered women's shelters. In the marital therapy sample, both physical marital violence and other forms of marital aggression correlated positively with children's externalizing problems. In the women's shelter sample, physical violence and other forms of marital aggression correlated positively with children's externalizing and internalizing problems. After accounting for the frequency of physical marital violence, forms of marital aggression other than physical violence still related to children's externalizing problems in the marital therapy sample and to children's internalizing problems in the women's shelter sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Television violence and aggression: The debate continues.

Defends the majority consensus in the literature that there is a causal relation between viewing TV violence and aggression. Replies are made to challenges of this consensus by J. L. Freedman (see record 1984-30860-001). It is concluded that the data support a bidirectional causal relation between viewing TV violence and aggression, that the potential threats to the internal and external validity of studies using different methods are not likely to produce a positive bias, and that the findings can be generalized to real-world violence. The available research is placed in a theoretical context encompassing multiple psychological processes and developmental change, and social policy implications are discussed. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Desensitization to media violence: Links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior.

This study examined the links between desensitization to violent media stimuli and habitual media violence exposure as a predictor and aggressive cognitions and behavior as outcome variables. Two weeks after completing measures of habitual media violence exposure, trait aggression, trait arousability, and normative beliefs about aggression, undergraduates (N = 303) saw a violent film clip and a sad or a funny comparison clip. Skin conductance level (SCL) was measured continuously, and ratings of anxious and pleasant arousal were obtained after each clip. Following the clips, participants completed a lexical decision task to measure accessibility of aggressive cognitions and a competitive reaction time task to measure aggressive behavior. Habitual media violence exposure correlated negatively with SCL during violent clips and positively with pleasant arousal, response times for aggressive words, and trait aggression, but it was unrelated to anxious arousal and aggressive responding during the reaction time task. In path analyses controlling for trait aggression, normative beliefs, and trait arousability, habitual media violence exposure predicted faster accessibility of aggressive cognitions, partly mediated by higher pleasant arousal. Unprovoked aggression during the reaction time task was predicted by lower anxious arousal. Neither habitual media violence usage nor anxious or pleasant arousal predicted provoked aggression during the laboratory task, and SCL was unrelated to aggressive cognitions and behavior. No relations were found between habitual media violence viewing and arousal in response to the sad and funny film clips, and arousal in response to the sad and funny clips did not predict aggressive cognitions or aggressive behavior on the laboratory task. This suggests that the observed desensitization effects are specific to violent content. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical aggression in early marriage: Prerelationship and relationship effects.

Spousal physical aggression at 30 mo after marriage was predicted for 393 young couples who were interviewed for a longitudinal study. The prerelationship predictor variables were history of violence in the family of origin, aggression against others during childhood and adolescence, and personality characteristics. Relationship predictor variables were marital discord and spouse-specific psychological aggression, both measured at 18 mo after marriage. The findings suggest that predictive models are different for husbands and wives. For both sexes, there were direct paths to marital violence that were not mediated by characteristics of the relationship, as well as paths that originated in or flowed through indicators of the marital relationship. Implications for intervention through marital therapy, individual therapy, or both are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Automatic cognitions and teen dating violence.

Objective: The present research examined whether the level of aggression in automatic cognitions was positively associated with teen dating violence after accounting for more consciously controlled, self-reported attitudes about dating violence. Method: At baseline, 95 teens who had been remanded to the juvenile court system because of antisocial behavior completed a word-completion task designed to measure the level of aggression in their automatic cognitions. Teens also completed questionnaire measures of attitudes about dating violence and dating violence perpetration during the previous three months, and then provided data on dating violence perpetration every two weeks over a 3-month follow-up period. Results: The level of aggression in automatic cognitions was positively associated with dating violence perpetration after accounting for teens' self-reported attitudes about dating violence. This pattern of results emerged with both concurrent and prospective associations. It is noteworthy that aggression in automatic cognitions also predicted changes in dating violence perpetration over the 3-month follow-up period, even after controlling for baseline levels of the perpetration of dating violence and teens' self-reported attitudes about dating violence. Conclusions: These findings suggest that theoretical models of teen dating violence should consider the role of automatic as well as more consciously controlled cognitive processes in the perpetration of teen dating violence. In addition, clinical efforts to reduce teen dating violence might benefit from targeting automatic as well as more controlled cognitive processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multivariate models of mothers' and fathers' aggression toward their children.

Multivariate, biopsychosocial, explanatory models of mothers' and fathers' psychological and physical aggression toward their 3- to 7-year-old children were fitted and cross-validated in 453 representatively sampled families. Models explaining mothers' and fathers' aggression were substantially similar. Surprisingly, many variables identified as risk factors in the parental aggression and physical child abuse literatures, such as income, unrealistic expectations, and alcohol problems, although correlated with aggression bivariately, did not contribute uniquely to the models. In contrast, a small number of variables (i.e., child responsible attributions, overreactive discipline style, anger expression, and attitudes approving of aggression) appeared to be important pathways to parent aggression, mediating the effects of more distal risk factors. Models accounted for a moderate proportion of the variance in aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent–child interaction, television violence, and aggression of children.

Summarized and integrated results of 2 large-scale longitudinal studies (L. D. Eron, see PA, Vol 38:2452; Eron et al, in press). The relationship between TV violence and aggression in Ss was corroborated in 2 different geographical areas of the US and was found to hold for both boys and girls. The causal effect is circular, with TV violence affecting S's aggression and aggressive Ss watching more violent TV. Contributing increments to a S's level of overt aggression were popularity, intellectual ability, aggressive fantasy, extent of physical punishment, rejection by parents, and the tendency of parents to endorse attitudes and behaviors often seen in sociopathic individuals. It is shown that it is possible to intervene to attenuate the relationship between TV violence and aggression with simple tuitional procedures that supercede the influence of the parent variables studied. Important intervening variables in the TV violence–aggression relationship are S's identification with aggressive characters and the extent to which S believes TV portrays reality. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors and outcomes of workplace violence and aggression.

The authors developed and assessed the psychometric properties of an instrument measuring risk for workplace violence and expanded a model linking (a) risk and experience of violence and aggression from the public and (b) experience of aggression from coworkers to emotional well-being, psychosomatic well-being, affective commitment, and turnover intentions. Using data from 254 employees representing 71 different occupations, the measure demonstrated acceptable within-occupation and 1-month test-retest reliability. The data supported the model and showed that public-initiated violence and aggression and coworker-initiated aggression were differentially associated with personal and organizational outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Intergenerational Transmission of Perfectionism: Parents' Psychological Control as an Intervening Variable.

The present study investigated the role of parental (adaptive and maladaptive) intrapersonal perfectionism as a predictor of parental psychological control and the role of parents' psychological control in the intergenerational transmission of perfectionism in a sample of female late adolescents and their parents. First, parental maladaptive perfectionism, but not parental adaptive perfectionism, significantly predicted parents' psychological control even when controlling for parents' neuroticism. This relationship was found to be stronger for fathers than for mothers. Second, a significant direct relationship was found between mothers' and daughters' maladaptive perfectionism but not between fathers' and daughters' maladaptive perfectionism. Third, process analyses showed that, for both mothers and fathers, psychological control is an intervening variable in the relationship between parents' and daughters' maladaptive perfectionism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intimate partner violence and preschoolers' explicit memory functioning.

This research examines whether parents' intimate partner physical violence (IPV) relates to their preschoolers' explicit memory functioning, whether children's symptoms of hyperarousal mediate this relation, and whether mothers' positive parenting moderates this relation. Participants were 69 mothers and their 4- or 5-year-old child (34 girls). Mothers completed measures of IPV, children's hyperarousal symptoms, parent-child aggression, and positive parenting. Measures of explicit memory functioning were administered to preschoolers. As expected, IPV correlated negatively with preschoolers' performance on explicit memory tasks, even after controlling for parent-child aggression and demographic variables related to preschoolers' memory functioning. Preschoolers' hyperarousal symptoms did not mediate the relation between IPV and explicit memory functioning, but mothers' positive parenting moderated this relation. Specifically, the negative relation between IPV and preschoolers' performance on 2 of the 3 explicit memory tasks was weaker when mothers engaged in higher levels of positive parenting. These findings extend research on IPV and children's adjustment difficulties to explicit memory functioning in preschoolers and suggest that mothers can ameliorate the influence of IPV on preschoolers' memory functioning via their parenting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

College students' memories of their parents: A factor analysis of the CRPBI.

Administered the revised 18-scale form of the Children's Reports of Parental Behavior Inventory to 119 college females and 99 males. 4 factor analyses females' reports on fathers, females' reports on mothers, males' reports on fathers, and males' reports on mothers were performed. 3 factors, corresponding to Schafer's 3 dimensions of acceptance vs. rejection, psychological autonomy vs. psychological control, and firm control vs. lax control, emerged. Factor structures were similar in all analyses except males' reports of mothers. These differences are discussed in terms of the relative importance of dimensions used by students to evaluate their parents' behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young adults' immediate and delayed reactions to simulated marital conflicts: Implications for intergenerational patterns of violence in intimate relationships.

This study investigated the thoughts and feelings that young adults from violent (VPA) and nonviolent (NPA) interparental-conflict backgrounds reported while listening to simulated marital conflicts and after a delay for reflection. While listening to conflicts, VPAs were more likely than NPAs to predict negative outcomes and to place blame. No between–groups differences regarding negative outcomes emerged after a delay. VPAs also reported perpetrating and experiencing more aggressive conflict in their dating relationships. Post hoc probes revealed that the negative-outcome-prediction and blaming variables played no significant mediating role in participants' intergenerational patterns of intimate-relationship aggression; however, methodological limitations likely compromised the statistical power for examining this mediational model. Results are discussed in light of research regarding intergenerational patterns of violence within families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)