Intimate partner aggression during the early parenting years: The role of dissatisfaction with division of labor and childcare.

Abstract

The high rates of intimate partner aggression (IPA) among new parents may be partly due to changes in couples' division of household labor and childcare, which disproportionately negatively impact women. This is the first study to examine the association between division of labor dissatisfaction and IPA perpetration across genders while also examining whether such dissatisfaction is specifically associated with IPA during conflicts about division of labor issues. Quarterly for 1 year, 109 women and 94 men from 111 couples with a first-born child approximately 32 months of age at study commencement described each incident of IPA that occurred during the quarter, including conflict topics and number of aggressive acts perpetrated. Division of labor and childcare comprised the largest portion (30%) of IPA conflict topics. Division of labor dissatisfaction at child age 24 months was positively associated with women's, but not men's, IPA perpetration during conflicts about division of labor issues, but not other topics. A similar pattern of results emerged in the examination of division of childcare dissatisfaction and conflicts about childcare versus other topics. The discovery that the impact of division of labor and childcare dissatisfaction on IPA perpetration is context-and gender-specific suggests that, among women, a history of dissatisfaction may impair appropriate conflict resolution skills specifically when addressing domains of dissatisfaction. These findings support prevention of women's IPA via nonaggressive strategies for addressing division of labor concerns and promotion of equal opportunities for women and men at home and in the workplace during the early parenting years.

Is it really that important to you? How the topics of conflict and emotional reactions to conflicts explain the associations between attachment insecurities and relationship satisfaction

“…As such, it is possible that these conflicts, although relatively minor, can be wearisome for partners potentially due to their more frequent nature. A recent study by Wong et al (2021) also suggested that the division of labor and childcare and work-related stress are topics that often lead partners' conflicts to escalate into verbal and psychological violence. In essence, although they can be considered minor or even insignificant, conflicts about daily annoyances have the potential to be particularly distressing for partners.…”

“…In a study of 796 community couples, Wheeler and Kerpelman (2016) also found that couples who reported more conflicts surrounding intimacy reported lower relationship satisfaction. Issues surrounding money, trust, sex (Reese‐Weber et al, 2015), or the division of labor and childcare (Wong et al, 2021) have also been found to be associated with higher levels of intimate partner violence, a known correlate of relationship dissatisfaction (Lefebvre et al, 2021).…”