Intimate Partner Violence: The Predictive Power of Experiences in the Family of Origin and of Personality Disorder Traits

Family-of-origin experiences and personality disorder characteristics are considered risk factors in relation to intimate partner violence. The present study’s objective is to examine the predictive power of experiences in the family of origin and of pathological personality traits with respect to intimate partner violence, committed and suffered. Our sample consisted of 170 heterosexual couples from the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, who answered the following questionnaires: Clinical Dimensional Personality Assessment (CDPA), Family Background Questionnaire, and Revised Confl ict Tactics Scale (CTS2). The stepwise method of multiple linear regression analysis was employed. Our fi ndings identifi ed the “mood instability” and “impulsiveness” personality traits as predictors of violence committed by women; the “paternal physical abuse” and “aggressiveness” factors as predictors of violence committed by men; the “distrust” and “maternal decision-making approach” factors as predictors of violence suffered by women; and the “sexual abuse,” “social avoidance” and “paternal psychological adjustment” factors as predictors of violence suffered by men. Only the individuals’ traits displayed connections with intimate partner violence; none of the traits of the individuals’ spouses exhibited a correlation. The study’s results have implications for future research, indicating the existence of different explanatory models for men and women.