Patterns of Violent Relationships, Psychological Distress, and Marital Satisfaction in a National Sample of Men and Women

Abstract

This paper examined six patterns of violent relationships (severe and mild victimization, perpetration, and mutual violence) and their associations with psychosocial outcomes in men and women (N = 3, 519) using data from the National Comorbidity Survey. Violence patterns most frequently reported included mild and severe violence performed by both relationship partners. Some gender differences in frequency of patterns emerged. Main results showed gender differences and some similarities in associations between violence patterns and negative psychosocial outcomes. Women's victimization, regardless of severity, was more strongly related to psychosocial outcomes than men's. Yet, additional findings revealed gender similarities, with both men and women affected by mutual violence. Post hoc analyses further suggested that some individuals were satisfied and had relatively low distress, despite violence.

The Effect of Poor Parenting on Male and Female Dating Violence Perpetration and Victimization

“…As such, females are more likely to report perpetrating dating violence. These results are consistent with some previous research using modified versions of the Conflict Tactics Scale items (Whitaker, Haileyesus, Swahn, & Saltzman, 2007;Williams & Frieze, 2005) and may be attributed to the contention that women may be more willing to admit to using violence compared to males because men may be afraid of the negative stigma associated with victimizing a woman (Gover et al, 2008). Furthermore, these results may be caused by the items used for the dating violence measures as previous research has found that men may use more severe forms of violence (Capaldi et al, 2009), whereas indicators in this study tended to include milder forms.…”

“…Consistent with previous studies, we find that violence is prevalent in dating relationships in the form of both perpetration and victimization (Brownridge, 2006;Katz, Kuffel, & Coblentz, 2002;Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000b;Williams & Frieze, 2005). In addition, we find that our prevalence rate for dating violence is consistent with what Straus (2004) found in his cross-cultural study of 33 universities.…”

Reciprocal involvement in adolescent dating aggression: An Italian–Spanish study

“…A similar figure was also found in Italy (Menesini & Nocentini, 2008). Mutual violence more often implies mild forms of aggression, however severe mutual aggression can also be found occasionally (Johnson, 1995;Olson, 2002;Williams & Frieze, 2005).…”

Bidirectional, Unidirectional, and Nonviolence: A Comparison of the Predictors Among Partnered Young Adults

“…To understand the nuances of partner violence research, scholars have broadened the focus of their studies to include various types of violence, considering both males and females as victims and perpetrators of IPV (Anderson, 2002;Caetano, Vaeth, & Ramisetty-Mikler, 2008;Prospero, 2008;Williams & Frieze, 2005). One of the more recent trends in the family violence literature focuses around examining the prevalence and predictors of bidirectional violence, 1 617 which generally refers to situations in which a respondent reports being both a victim and perpetrator of violence in the context of an intimate relationship (Caetano, Ramisetty-Mikler, & Field, 2005;Harned, 2002;Lewis, Travea, & Fremouw, 2002;Robertson & Murachver, 2007;Straus, 2008;Tyler, Melander, & Noel, 2009).…”