Childhood physical abuse and dating violence: The role of attachment security and personality symptoms
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Date
2014-12-11
Authors
Prathipati, Rebecca L. G.
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Abstract
Dating violence (DV) is a common experience among college-age Canadians, affecting between one quarter and one third of both men and women. A significant predictor of DV perpetration and victimization is childhood physical abuse (CPA). While there is evidence of an intergenerational transmission of violence from CPA to both victimization and perpetration of DV in young adulthood, there remain gaps in our understanding of what factors influence these relationships throughout an individual’s development. Using survey data collected from a convenience sample of 660 University of Manitoba students, this study analyzed the strength of a model of violence development from CPA to DV including the mediating effects of personality symptoms and attachment security. The current study suggested partial support for theoretical frameworks that have been applied to the understanding of the relationship between CPA and DV, namely social learning theory, the criminological framework, and attachment based theories. CPA was correlated with DV perpetration and victimization. However, in multivariate analyses, witnessing interparental violence, rather than experiencing CPA, was a direct predictor of DV perpetration and victimization. CPA predicted DV indirectly through witnessing interparental violence. More severe dating violence items were significantly predicted by other variables in the model. Antisocial personality symptoms increased odds of severe DV perpetration and victimization while borderline personality symptoms increased odds of severe DV victimization. Attachment insecurity had the strongest impact on dating violence perpetration in the female subsample. These findings, suggesting a number of distinct pathways in the intergenerational transmission of violence, should be further tested in larger and more diverse samples. It would be beneficial to include additional risk and protective variables in future research in order to understand what impacts each distinct pathway to dating violence, under what circumstances, as well as the influence of these variables at different points in individuals’ development. This research is valuable for understanding the impact of childhood abuse on young adult attachment, personality, and dating violence. Further, it is hoped that this research will be helpful for establishing appropriate and comprehensive DV interventions which take into account mediating influences from the intergenerational transmission of violence.
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Keywords
dating violence, childhood physical abuse, attachment security, personality symptoms