Attributing negative intent to wife behavior: The attributions of maritally violent versus nonviolent men.

Compared attributions for negative wife behavior offered by 3 groups of husbands: 22 maritally violent and distressed, 17 nonviolent but maritally distressed, and 17 nonviolent and nondistressed. Husbands rated wife behaviors presented in 9 hypothetical problematic marital situation vignettes. On a measure of responsibility attributions, violent husbands were more likely than nondistressed husbands to attribute negative intentions, selfish motivation, and blame to the wife. On a measure of possible negative wife intentions, violent husbands were more likely than either distressed or nondistressed men to attribute negative intentions to the wife. Exploratory analyses suggested that certain types of marital situations (e.g., jealousy and rejection from wife) were particularly likely to elicit attributions of negative intent from violent husbands. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between behavioral marital therapy outcome and process variables.

This study was conducted to identify therapist and client behaviors with a positive response to social learning-based behavioral marital therapy. A sample of 32 couples receiving treatment was examined. Immediately after each therapy session, the therapist, husband, and wife independently completed process ratings forms that measured therapist and client behaviors during the session. Composite scales, derived from these ratings, were entered into multiple regression equations to examine their relationship with posttherapy marital satisfaction. After controlling for pretherapy marital satisfaction and the other predictor variables, therapists', husbands', and wives' ratings of positive client behavior (i.e., collaboration, active participation, and homework compliance) were positively associated with therapy outcome. Implications for marital therapy and suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Varying forms of husband sexual aggression: Predictors and subgroup differences.

The relationships between two forms of husband sexual aggression (coercion and threatened/forced sex) and husband physical and psychological aggression were examined among a community sample of 164 couples. A stronger relationship between physical and sexual aggression was obtained than in previous research. Husbands' physical and psychological aggression predicted husbands' sexual coercion, but only physical aggression predicted threatened/forced sex. The more severely physically violent subtypes of the A. Holtzworth-Munroe et al. (2000) typology engaged in the most sexual coercion, and the most violent subtype (generally violent/antisocial) engaged in the most threatened/forced sex. In examining C. M. Monson and J. Langhinrichsen-Rohling's (1998) typology, the existence of a sexually violent-only subtype was documented, physically nonviolent husbands were found to engage in sexual coercion, and sexually and physically violent husbands engaged in the highest level of sexual aggression. The utility of using multiple measures, and both spouses' reports, to assess sexual aggression is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maritally violent men's heart rate reactivity to marital interactions: A failure to replicate the Gottman et al. (1995) typology.

In an attempt to replicate the J. A Gottman et al. (1995) batterer typology, 58 men who had engaged in moderate-to-severe marital violence in the past year were studied. The sample was split into Gottman et al.'s Type 1 men (i.e., whose heart rates decreased, from baseline, during a marital conflict task) and Type 2 men (i.e., whose heart rates increased). The groups did not differ in the manner predicted on measures of marital violence, antisocial or aggressive-sadistic personality, drug dependence, criminality, general violence, childhood exposure to interparental violence, behavior during marital interactions, or relationship stability. Contrary to expectations, wives of Type 1 men rated their husband as more jealous and angry and reported more marital distress. In the only finding consistent with Gottman et al., Type 2 men scored higher on a measure of dependent personality. Implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heart rate reactivity in male batterers: A second look at the evidence.

Together, the results of 3 studies examining heart rate reactivity (HRR) in male batterers do not provide strong support for the I M. Gottman et al (see record 2001-11319-004) batterer typology. All research groups found similar proportions of severely violent male batterers who show heart rate increases or decreases during a marital conflict discussion, but there was inconsistent validation of this taxonomy on variables of interest. This difference was also found among less violent and nonviolent men. The authors believe HRR may be useful for differentiating batterers on the dimension of anger-hostility but are less optimistic that HRR will reliably identify psychopathic or antisocial batterers. The authors do not agree that low levels of marital interaction conflict led to their failure to replicate. Reanalysis of data from I C. Meehan, A. Holtzworth-Munroe, and K. Herron (2001) suggests baseline artifacts may be an important determinant of HRR differences. Methodological changes may improve the reliability of HRR assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cross-cultural analysis of the demand-withdraw marital interaction: Observing couples from a developing country.

The authors used cross-cultural methodology to examine the demand-withdraw pattern of marital communication. In Western countries, women usually make more demands, whereas men are more likely to withdraw. But the recently advanced marital structure hypothesis suggests that this pattern can be altered by gender roles and beliefs, particularly in traditional marriages. To test such hypotheses, the authors conducted an observational study of marital communication across very different cultures, with varying levels of patriarchy (i.e., 50 White American couples, 52 Pakistani couples in Pakistan, and 48 immigrant Pakistani couples in America). Across cultures, demand-withdraw communication was related to marital distress, extending previous findings to new groups. However, the findings challenge the notion that demanding and withdrawing behaviors are inherently male or female; rather, the results point to the relevance of contextual factors, specifically gender power differences and acculturation, in understanding the demand-withdraw marital interaction pattern. Therapists working with foreign or immigrant couples must consider the cross-cultural generalizability of existing theories of marital communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detecting intimate partner violence in family and divorce mediation: A randomized trial of intimate partner violence screening.

Handling mediation cases with a history of intimate partner violence (IPV) is one of the most controversial issues in the field of divorce mediation. Before deciding whether and how to mediate cases with IPV, mediators must first detect violence. Using random assignment of cases to an enhanced screening condition (n = 30) and to a standard screening control condition (n = 31), we compared information gathered from a brief, behaviorally specific IPV screening questionnaire to mediators' independent determination of the presence or absence of violence using standard mediation clinic screening procedures. Mediators did not label as violent about half of the cases reporting IPV on the screening questionnaire. Mediators were more likely to report IPV when fathers were reported (by mothers) to have engaged in a greater number of differing violent behaviors, but a score reflecting severity and frequency of party reported violence did not predict mediator detection of violence. In cases with two mediators, mediators did not always agree on whether or not the case involved IPV. Possible reasons for the differences in mediator and party reports of IPV are considered, and we emphasize the potential importance of using systematic methods to screen for violence in divorce mediation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recognition of wives’ emotional expressions: A mechanism in the relationship between psychopathology and intimate partner violence perpetration.

Among a community sample of 88 couples, husbands’ emotion recognition skills were examined as a mechanism accounting for the relationships between two dimensions of psychopathology that commonly describe violent husbands (i.e., borderline/dysphoric and psychopathic personality characteristics) and their perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV). Husbands’ diminished sensitivity to their wives’ expressions of happiness partially mediated the relationship between their borderline/dysphoric characteristics and their IPV perpetration, supporting Dutton’s (1995) theory of IPV. These relationships were specific to expressions displayed by husbands’ wives (as opposed to unfamiliar men and women), demonstrating the significance of the intimate relationship. Partial support was found for Blair’s (1995) violence inhibition mechanism model, such that husbands’ IPV was associated with their diminished sensitivity to expressions of fear and their psychopathy was associated with misidentifying fearful expressions as neutral. However, the strength of husbands’ diminished sensitivity to fear as a mediator of the psychopathy–IPV relationship was suboptimal. Moreover, sensitivity to wives’ expressions of happiness also mediated the psychopathy–IPV relationship, potentially because of overlap in psychopathology constructs or inadequate examination of the temporal specificity of the two theories tested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital therapy and spouse involvement in the treatment of depression, agoraphobia, and alcoholism.

Examines the literature on marital therapy and spouse involvement as treatments for major psychopathology. The focus is on three disorders that have attracted a sufficient number of empirical findings: depression, agoraphobia, and alcoholism. For each of these disorders, we first examine the relation between marital dynamics and the disorder and next discuss empirical efforts to evaluate the impact of marital therapy or spouse involvement on the disorder. In addition, we summarize trends and suggest methodological refinements for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing the responses of maritally violent and nonviolent spouses to problematic marital and nonmarital situations: Are the skill deficits of physically aggressive husbands and wives global?

This study compared the competency of responses offered by spouses in violent and nonviolent marriages to problematic marital and nonmarital situations. Twenty-five maritally violent and distressed, 10 nonviolent but maritally distressed, and 23 nonviolent and nondistressed couples participated. Each spouse listened to narratives of marital and nonmarital (e.g., boss or friend) problematic situation vignettes. Participants were asked what they would say and do in each situation. A coding system designed with input from nonviolent, happily married individuals showed that violent spouses provided less competent responses than nonviolent spouses for both marital and nonmarital situations and for both 1st and 2nd responses. The findings suggest that violent-distressed spouses have particular difficulty with marital situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)