Mutuality, severity, and chronicity of violence by Father-Only, Mother-Only, and mutually violent parents as reported by university students in 15 nations

Meta-Analysis of Cyber Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration and Victimization: Different Types and their Associations with Face-to-Face IPV among Men and Women

Cyber intimate partner violence (C-IPV) is a technology-mediated form of violence. It has been examined only in the last 10 years as a form of violence that can cause psychological damage to its victims. How this phenomenon connects to and differs from face-to-face IPV (F2F-IPV) has been, as yet, little studied. Research has not made clear whether sex differences may impact its use, particularly in light of the fact that no physical coercion is used in C-IPV. Thus, the current research aimed to investigate through a meta-analysis: differences between the average levels of different types of C-IPV victimization and perpetration; the association between C-IPV and F2F-IPV victimization and perpetration; and whether the answers to these questions were dependent on sex. The current meta-analysis drew on 46 studies, within 44 papers, with a total sample of 27,491 participants. Findings from 22 of these studies showed no significant sex differences between the average levels of different types of C-IPV victimization and between different types of C-IPV perpetration. These 22 studies showed positive large effect sizes for the correlation between C-IPV and F2F-IPV perpetration and victimization. Moreover, in both perpetration and victimization, sex did not impact the level of association. The findings suggested that C-IPV and F2F-IPV are highly correlated, and though not the same, they may share similar characteristics. Additionally, the results suggested that sex differences do not impact non-physical aggression, such as C-IPV. The implications for preventive strategies include that IPV interventions should also focus on alleviating instances of C-IPV.

"Whose Fault Is It?" How Rural Chinese Women Explain Intimate Partner Violence: A Qualitative Study

Women are often the victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). Though China has established its first statute against domestic violence, the service developments for victims fall behind. It is important to assess community members' perceptions of what causes IPV to create interventions to prevent and address IPV. This study completed the Short Explanatory Model Interview (SEMI) among a subset sample from a large epidemiology study in rural Sichuan China. The social ecological model was applied to analyze qualitative interviews. Among 339 participants, the average age was 46.01 ± 12.42 years old. There were 31.86% of them had been educated, 14.75% of them had migrant worker partners, and 49.26% of them had experienced violence from their partners in the last year. There were 252 participants attributed IPV to individual factors, and they primarily discussed the social characteristics, behaviors, personalities or even health problems of the husband or the wife in the vignette. Under this theme, there were 86 participants blaming the victim for being anxious, social disconnectedness or lazy; and there were 166 participants blaming to the perpetrator being abusive, irresponsibility, lack of understanding, and cheating. There were 44 women believed the cause was relational, in which there were 41 participants attributed the problem to the broken relationship between the couple and three participants attributed to the lack of support. There were 28 participants believed the cause was communal and societal, such as being poor, family problems, fate, and believed IPV was a common scene. There were 15 participants could not identify the cause of IPV. These participants usually provided very brief responses and barely had insight on violent behaviors or confidence in discussing the cause. Our findings offer a direction for understanding the rural Chinese women's beliefs about the etiology of IPV to better develop interventions which must consider raising a public awareness campaign about the risk factors of IPV and focus on reducing self-blame among victims.

Child-to-Parent Violence during Confinement Due to COVID-19: Relationship with Other Forms of Family Violence and Psychosocial Stressors in Spanish Youth

This study analyzes child-to-parent violence during strict confinement due to COVID-19 as well as its association with other forms of family violence (parent-to-child violence and exposure to violence between parents) and with different psychosocial stressors: Academics/work, family coexistence, finances, COVID-19 and physical and psychological health. The study included 2245 young people (52.8% females) aged between 18 and 25 years (M = 21.52 years, SD = 2.07 years). The results show that more than half of the young people reported having performed at least one violent behavior toward their parents. Child-to-parent violence is significantly related to violence from parents to their young adult children, to exposure to violence between parents and to different psychosocial stressors: Academics/work, family coexistence and psychological health. The individual and additive predictive value of other forms of family violence and psychosocial stressors in child-to-parent violence is confirmed. Prevention and intervention programs for child-to-parent violence must take into account the role of other forms of family violence present as well as the influence of psychosocial stressors.

Psychological Aggression, Attitudes About Violence, Violent Socialization, and Dominance in Dating Relationships

Psychological aggression is a widespread form of abuse in dating relationships, especially in collectivist societies with ties to patriarchal beliefs. Despite the prevalence of psychological aggression, it has seldom been studied in connection with known antecedents of interpersonal violence, including dominance, attitudes supportive of violence, and violence socialization processes during childhood. The present study sought to test relationships among these variables in young men and women. A total of 500 Mexican undergraduate students in northern Mexico reported on their experiences with psychological aggression, the dominance of a dating partner, and violent socialization during childhood, as well as on their approval of violence within and outside the family. The results indicate that the dominance of a dating partner is directly linked to male and female intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Violent socialization and proviolent attitudes appear to be related to female dominance. Female and male psychological aggression victimization was predicted by the participant's own perpetration. In general, a dyadic approach appears to be useful for explaining psychological aggression perpetration and victimization in a collectivist society, in light of recent changes in normative beliefs held by young educated Mexicans. Implications for future research and public policy are discussed.

Child-to-Parent Violence as an Intervening Variable in the Relationship between Inter-Parental Violence Exposure and Dating Violence

The exposure of adult children to inter-parental violence is an indirect form of victimization which has not been widely investigated in relation to its consequences in adulthood. The main goal of this study was to analyze predictors of dating violence based on an integrated model of intergenerational transmission of violence with the assessment of potential indirect effects of inter-parental violence exposure on dating violence through child-to-parent violence and sexism. A total of 847 college students participated in this study, ranging from 18 to 25 years of age. Inter-parental violence exposure plays a relevant role in dating violence, with indirect effects through child-to-parent violence and sexism. These results support social learning theory in explaining the intergenerational transmission of violence and indicate that further attention should be paid to children exposed to inter-parental violence. Intervention models to prevent the perpetration of dating violence should include the prevention of inter-parental violence exposure and child-to-parent violence.

Physical Intimate Partner Violence and Controlling Behavior in Mexican University Students and Their Attitudes Toward Social Limits

This study explored patterns of controlling behavior, physical violence, and attitudes toward social limits in young Mexican university students in light of the effect that socialization processes have in attitudes toward social norms and violent behavior as indicated in some of the literature. A total of 437 male and female heterosexual participants residing in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, provided information on their perpetration/victimization experiences of controlling behavior (by means of the Controlling Behaviors Scale) and physical violence (using the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales [CTS2]) and their attitudes toward social limits (using the Attitudes Toward Social Limits scale). Results indicate similar chronicity levels of experienced controlling behavior and physical violence perpetration/victimization between the sexes. Participants expressed major tendency to adjust to a social norm rather than overstepping it. Males tend to overstep social limits more often than females, although no significant linear relationship was found between abusive behavior and attitudes promoting the infringement of social norms. Higher chronicity levels were rather found by dyadic type, relationships with mutual physical intimate partner violence (IPV), and controlling behavior in comparison with relationships where unidirectional violence prevails. Implications of findings involve the acknowledgment of change in dynamics used by more educated young Mexicans, and the recognition of IPV in these populations as a heterogeneous phenomenon for primary and secondary interventions.

Risk Factors for Concordance Between Partners in Assault Among University Student Couples

Based on information 11,408 university students provided on perpetration of physical assault in a romantic relationship, they were classified into three Dyadic Concordance Types (DCTs). We then examined six risk factors drawn from previous literature of partner violence: physical abuse as a child, antisocial personality characteristics, alcohol abuse, coercive control, chronic denigration in a relationship, and patriarchy at the societal level. We hypothesized that some risk factors for assault are different dependent on the DCT. Using multinomial logistic regression, we found that some risk factors were associated with an increase in the risk of a couple being in the Male Only assaulted DCT more than the other two DCTs (e.g., men who were high in antisocial personality characteristics). Other risk factors were found to be associated with a greater increase in the risk a couple being in the Both assaulted DCTs (e.g., chronic denigration). These results suggest that theories about the etiology of partner violence should take into account whether the couple is Male Only, Female Only, and Both assaulted. Identification of the DCTs of cases can be helpful in focusing research, treatment, and prevention of partner violence in a way that better reflects the actual situation.

Concordance Between Parents in Perpetration of Child Mistreatment: How Often Is It by Father-Only, Mother-Only, or by Both and What Difference Does It Make?

Research on child mistreatment tends to focus on the mother or the father as the abusing parent, even though there is wide agreement that both theory and practice should deal with child maltreatment as a family system problem. Most children have the benefit or the risk of more than one caretaker for substantial periods of their lives, most often two parents or stepparents. This article is intended to illustrate the value of research which uses concordance analysis (CA) to identify children who experienced three dyadic concordance types (DCTs) of mistreatment: father-only, mother-only, or both parents, including single-parent combinations of caretakers. A concordance approach that identifies possible abusers in addition to the presenting parent using the three DCTs is a practical first step toward a family system perspective to enhance child abuse theory, research, and practice.

Difficult but Close Relationships: Children's Perspectives on Relationships With Their Mothers in the Context of Domestic Violence

This article reports findings from a participative and qualitative study conducted with children who had experienced domestic violence, focusing on their perspectives on their relationships with their mothers. Three focus groups and 46 individual interviews were conducted with children to gather their experiences. The research findings demonstrate that women's and children's victimizations are inextricably linked, and that domestic violence affects mother-child relationships. They also show that, despite the challenges and difficulties, children generally consider their mothers as very significant individuals in their lives, and have close relationships with them. The findings also reveal a dynamic of mutual protectiveness.

Perpetrators' and Victims' Attributions for IPV: A Critical Review of the Literature

Research shows that there are a variety of reasons why people self-report engaging in intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, but few studies report victims' attributions for their partners' IPV perpetration. Because there are two acting partners in relationships, as well as the IPV incidents that occur in the relationships, to fully understand the dynamics of IPV, both partners' perceptions of why the incidents occur must be understood. The authors of this article systematically reviewed the available empirical evidence regarding male and female perpetrators' endorsed attributions for their IPV perpetration, as well victims' attributions for their partners' IPV perpetration. Several literature databases were explored, resulting in 50 articles that met the criteria for inclusion in this review. IPV perpetrators' commonly endorsed attributions for physical and psychological IPV consisted of control, anger, retaliation, self-defense, to get attention, and an inability to express oneself verbally. Research has not examined endorsed attributions for coercive control. The few studies examining attributions for sexual IPV found that it was attributed to dominance or hedonism. Themes regarding victims' attributions were largely similar to those of the perpetrators, however, there were some differences. Victims' attributions for physical IPV perpetration consisted of anger, control, jealousy, and the influence of drugs/alcohol, which are similar to perpetrators' self-reported attributions for engaging in IPV perpetration. Victims' attributions for their partners' psychological IPV perpetration consisted of the perpetrator's personality, relationship dissolution, alcohol, and their partners' jealousy. Victims' attributions for their partners' sexual IPV perpetration, however, differed from perpetrators' attributions, consisting of the victim believing that the perpetrator thought they wanted it, being under the influence of alcohol/drugs, and doing it out of love. Methodological inconsistencies, directions for future research, and treatment implications are also discussed.

Conflits entre conjoints ou contrôle des hommes sur les femmes ? L’expérience et le point de vue d’enfants et d’adolescents exposés à la violence conjugale

Cet article présente les résultats d’une recherche empirique réalisée avec des enfants et des adolescents qui ont été exposés à la violence conjugale, dans le but de mieux comprendre leur expérience et leur point de vue sur la violence conjugale. Plus particulièrement, cet article s’intéresse à la façon dont ces jeunes définissent la violence conjugale. Privilégiant une méthodologie qualitative et participative, des groupes de discussions ont d’abord été réalisés avec 20 participants, suivis de 46 entrevues individuelles. Les participants étaient des enfants et des adolescents québécois et franco-ontariens qui ont été exposés à la violence conjugale. Dans l’ensemble, les résultats révèlent que, si la définition proposée par les enfants et les adolescents met l’accent sur l’exacerbation des conflits, renforçant ainsi le discours sur la symétrie de la violence conjugale, les expériences vécues mettent plutôt en évidence les inégalités liées au genre ainsi que le pouvoir et le contrôle des hommes sur les femmes.

Addressing Violence by Female Partners Is Vital to Prevent or Stop Violence Against Women

This article presents a reanalysis of data from Gondolf’s (2012) article in this journal on reoffending by men in the 15-month period subsequent to participation in batterer intervention programs. Gondolf concludes that violence by the female partners “was relatively low and does not appear to influence the program outcome in terms of men’s reassault” (p. 10). The reanalyzed data lead to the opposite conclusion. The policy and practice implications are that the high rate of assault by women, including initiation of violence by female partners, needs to be addressed to enhance the effectiveness of programs to prevent and stop violence against women.