The 2D:4D Ratio as a Predictor of the Risk of Recidivism after Court‐mandated Intervention Program for Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators

Abstract

Differences in aggressive behavior could be partially explained by differential prenatal exposure to testosterone (T). A peripheral marker of prenatal T exposure is the 2D:4D ratio, which has shown a negative correlation with self-reported aggression in violent men. This study tested the direct association of the 2D:4D ratio with anger expression and the risk of recidivism in intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators after psychotherapeutic intervention program. The sample consisted of IPV perpetrators, whose 2D:4D ratio was measured before the intervention. Moreover, after the intervention, anger expression and risk of recidivism in IPV were assessed. Smaller 2D:4D ratio, especially of the right hand, was related to higher anger expression and risk of recidivism in IPV perpetrators. The contribution of this prenatal marker together with other psychobiological variables could play a key role in the propensity to react aggressively when coping with environmental demands.

Could Alcohol Abuse Drive Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators’ Psychophysiological Response to Acute Stress?

“…This dysregulation could reduce the threshold for violent behavior when exposed to certain types of stimuli that are incongruent with their hostile cognitive schemas, such as sexist ideas about women or dominant roles in relationships [13]. Additionally, the facilitation of violence might also be explained by IPV perpetrators’ cognitive processing deficits, which may include low processing speed and poor attention switching and sustained attention, as well as deficits in working memory and other impairments associated with executive dysfunctions, such as poor cognitive flexibility, planning abilities, and inhibitory control [14,15,16,17,18].…”

“…Gottman et al [10] and later studies [11,12] neglected the role of chronic alcohol abuse in the development of cognitive impairments [16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23] and ANS dysregulation [24,25,26] in this kind of population, as well as the fact that this dysregulation entails an abnormal stress response. In fact, it has been suggested that chronic alcohol consumption tends to depress the central nervous system, suppressing excitatory nerve pathway activity in the resting state [27], but there are inconsistencies about whether alcohol tends to reduce sympathetic or parasympathetic control of the ANS [28,29,30,31,32,33].…”