Adult attachment theory and research specifically related to men's and women's intimate partner violence (IPV) are reviewed. In an effort to help explain gender similarities, two different IPV patterns predicted by individual differences in adult attachment orientations are proposed. Gender differences are addressed, including by critiquing the assessment of outcome severity in previous research. Applications to practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.KEY WORDS: adult attachment; romantic relationships; intimate partner violence; domestic violence; psychological abuse; gender differences.Recent meta-analytic studies (Archer, 2000(Archer, , 2002 showed that men and women perpetrated equal amounts of intimate partner violence (IPV). This phenomenon, called gender symmetry in IPV, has stimulated much discussion. This paper offers an explanation for similarities found in men's and women's IPV by applying adult attachment theory. Further, since men's IPV more often caused injury to victims than women's IPV (Archer, 2000), clarifications of gender differences in outcome severity are needed.Prior to findings of gender symmetry in IPV, men were viewed as more likely to be abusive to romantic partners than women (see Dasgupta, 2002;Saunders, 2002). The question that was seldom asked was "Why do some men abuse their romantic partners and others do not?" Individual differences in approaches to intimate relationships may explain not only why some men are more likely than others to abuse their romantic partners, but also why some women abuse their romantic partners (see White & Kowalski, 1994). Feminist scholars advocate integrating an individual difference approach with a gender analysis to explicate gender similarities and A theory-driven model of IPV can offer new directions for research and practice. This paper reviews adult attachment theory and research related to men's and women's IPV. In an effort to help explain gender similarities, two different IPV patterns predicted by individual differences in adult attachment orientations are proposed. Gender differences are addressed, including by critiquing the assessment of outcome severity in previous research. Applications to practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.
SEVERITY OF IPV OUTCOMESThe standard approach to studying IPV has the potential to obscure gender differences in outcome 785