Affect, verbal content, and psychophysiology in the arguments of couples with a violent husband.

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to study the affect, psychophysiology, and verbal content of arguments in couples with a violent husband. On the basis of self-reports of violent arguments, there were no wife behaviors that successfully suppressed husband violence once it began; moreover, husband violence escalated in response to nonviolent as well as violent wife behaviors, whereas wife violence escalated only in reaction to husband violence or emotional abuse. Only wives were fearful during violent and nonviolent arguments. The observational coding of nonviolent arguments in the laboratory revealed that both battering husbands and their wives (DV) were angrier than their maritally distressed but nonviolent (DNV) counterparts. As predicted, on the more provocative anger codes, only DV men differed from their DNV counterparts. However, DV wives were as verbally aggressive toward their husbands as DV husbands were toward their wives.

Anger, hostility, internalizing negative emotions, and intimate partner violence perpetration: A meta-analytic review

“…These findings are also informed by decades-old findings documenting interdependence between males and females’ displays of negative conflict behaviors during arguments (Burman et al, 1993; Jacobson et al, 1994; Margolin, John, & Gleberman, 1988), as well as recent research demonstrating that males and females do not differ in their use of controlling behaviors in close relationships (Bates et al, 2014; Graham-Kevan & Archer, 2009), countering claims from some researchers that women’s use of IPV is defensive and noncoercive in nature (Gondolf, 2007). Furthermore, recent research using daily reporting methods to assess anger and IPV-related behaviors supports the notion that increases in angry affect are associated with increases in IPV risk for both men and women (Crane & Eckhardt, 2013a; Elkins, Moore, McNulty, Kivisto, & Handsel, 2013), with recent research indicating that female anger may be a stronger predictor of both female-to-male and male-to-female IPV than male anger (Crane & Testa, 2014).…”

“…Specifically, IPV perpetrators show more biased implicit attitudes favoring aggressive stimuli relative to nonviolent individuals (Eckhardt, Samper, Suhr, & Holtzworth-Munroe, 2012), with biased attitudes also relating to the frequency of prior year IPV and responsiveness to IPV interventions (Eckhardt et al, 2012; Eckhardt & Crane, 2014). Together, these cognitively-oriented, intrapersonal models indicate that as a result of these cognitive biases and distortions, IPV perpetrators experience higher levels of anger, contempt, disgust, and other forms of intense negative affect during relationship conflict (Eckhardt, 2007; Eckhardt, Barbour, & Stuart, 1997; Gottman et al, 1995; Jacobson et al, 1994; Norlander & Eckhardt, 2005; O’Leary, 1988). …”

“…In contrast to power-and-control and intrapersonal perspectives, researchers investigating the nature of close relationships and couples’ therapy scholars have noted that (1) relationship conflict emerges from partners’ frequently interdependent exchange of behaviors and negative affective expressions (e.g., Gottman, 1998; Gottman et al, 1976; Gurman & Jacobson, 2002), and (2) relationship conflict and relationship distress are consistent predictors of IPV (Jacobson, 1994; Murphy & Eckhardt, 2005; Schumacher et al, 2001; Stith et al, 2004). A large body of research indicates that this negative reciprocity sequence is in part characterized by repeated exchanges of anger, hostility, contempt, and belligerence (Cordova et al, 1993; Gottman, 1979; Hellmuth & McNulty, 2008).…”

Official Incidents of Domestic Violence: Types, Injury, and Associations With Nonofficial Couple Aggression

“…Perpetration rates are estimated to range from about 36% to 51% for young women and 22% to 43% for young men (Moffitt & Caspi, 1999). Similar to nonphysical patterns of mutual negativity, such as contempt/belligerence and reciprocated aversive behavior observed in the interactions of aggressive couples (e.g., Jacobson et al, 1994), much IPV is best described as mutual, particularly in young couples (e.g., Moffitt, Caspi, Rutter, & Silva, 2001; Stets & Straus, 1990; Whitaker, Haileyesus, Swahn, & Saltzman, 2007). Aggressive couples reported mutual physical aggression in about one half of the incidents in both the National Family Violence Survey (Stets & Straus) and on the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health at ages 18–28 years (Whitaker et al, 2007).…”

Interparental aggression and parent–adolescent salivary alpha amylase symmetry

“…Aggression between parents is a stressor that puts youth at risk for a variety of negative outcomes, including aggression, delinquency, anxiety, and depression8,9,10. Even during conversations that are not physically violent, couples who have been physically aggressive with each other behave more negatively toward each other11, 12. Children exposed to high levels of conflict and aggression tend to be more fearful and upset even by subsequent non violent anger and conflict 13, 14, 15.…”