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Early exposure to violence, domestic violence, attachment representations, and marital adjustment
Author(s) -
GODBOUT NATACHA,
DUTTON DONALD G.,
LUSSIER YVAN,
SABOURIN STÉPHANE
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2009.01228.x
Subject(s) - psychology , domestic violence , abandonment (legal) , developmental psychology , attachment theory , anxiety , romance , structural equation modeling , cycle of violence , social psychology , affect (linguistics) , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , clinical psychology , medical emergency , psychiatry , medicine , statistics , mathematics , communication , political science , psychoanalysis , law
The present study investigates the effects of violent experiences in childhood on current domestic violence and marital adjustment, using adult attachment theory as a conceptual framework. A nonclinical sample of 644 Canadian adults in long‐term romantic relationships completed measures of adult romantic attachment, conflict tactics scales, and dyadic adjustment. Structural equation modeling revealed that early experiences of violence affect adults' intimate violence directly and indirectly through anxiety over abandonment and avoidance of intimacy. The actor–partner interdependence model illustrated the importance of early exposure to violence in predicting both partners' attachment representations, intimate violence, and couple adjustment. Findings are discussed with reference to the clinical issues surrounding minor violence against the intimate partner.