Psychological and Physical Partner Abuse of College Women: Behavioral and Cognitive Correlates

2 Introduction . 2 Background . 2 Alcohol and Coping.6 Partner Abuse Expectations.8 Known Risk Factors for Partner Abuse – Selecting Control Variables . 8 The Current Study . 9 Method . 10 Participants. 10 Measures. 11 Procedure. 17 Results.19 Results for Analyses of Predictors . 19 Results for Analyses of Partner Abuse Effects (Expectations) . 22 Discussion.25 Predictors: Results Summary and Interpretation . 25 Predictors: Non-significant and Unexpected findings. 28 Effects (Expectations): Results Summary and Interpretation. 29 Overall Study Strengths and Limitations . 31 Limitations of results interpretation specific to predictors analyses . 33 Future Directions. 35 References.37 Appendix 1: Tables . 44 Appendix 2: Figures . 51 Appendix 3: Demographics Measure . 54 Stein Masters Thesis Page 2 Abstract This study investigated behavioral and cognitive characteristics of college women as correlates of psychological and physical partner abuse experienced in their recent heterosexual relationships. Participants’ alcohol use and problem-focused coping were examined as predictors of partner abuse, and their expected frequencies of abusive partner behaviors in any relationship were examined as cognitive effects of partner abuse. These behaviors and cognitions were selected because they provide potential areas for cognitive-behavioral interventions. Study results indicated that women’s alcohol use and coping are together related to their experience of abuse. Specifically, results indicated that low alcohol use coupled with more frequent use of problem-focused coping was related to decreased partner abuse, and high alcohol use coupled with more frequent use of problem-focused coping was associated with increased partner abuse. In addition, results indicated that women’s experience of partner abuse would lead them to expect a higher occurrence of abusive partner behaviors in general. Introduction Background Partner abuse has been called intimate partner violence, battering, physical abuse, psychological abuse, emotional abuse, verbal aggression, and expressed violence, and definitions of these terms are not consistent. Furthermore, prevalence rates of partner abuse vary, and are difficult to compare across studies because the terminology used in research for “partner abuse” is not standardized (Follingstad, Rutledge, Berg, Hause, & Polek, 1990; Smith, Thornton, DeVellis, Earp, & Coker, 2002; Sugarman & Hotaling, 1989). In addition variations in sampling (Sugarman & Hotaling, 1989) and measurement (Bogat, Levendosky, Theran, von Eye, & Davidson, 2003) further confound comparisons across studies.This study investigated behavioral and cognitive characteristics of college women as correlates of psychological and physical partner abuse experienced in their recent heterosexual relationships. Participants’ alcohol use and problem-focused coping were examined as predictors of partner abuse, and their expected frequencies of abusive partner behaviors in any relationship were examined as cognitive effects of partner abuse. These behaviors and cognitions were selected because they provide potential areas for cognitive-behavioral interventions. Study results indicated that women’s alcohol use and coping are together related to their experience of abuse. Specifically, results indicated that low alcohol use coupled with more frequent use of problem-focused coping was related to decreased partner abuse, and high alcohol use coupled with more frequent use of problem-focused coping was associated with increased partner abuse. In addition, results indicated that women’s experience of partner abuse would lead them to expect a higher occurrence of abusive partner behaviors in general. Introduction Background Partner abuse has been called intimate partner violence, battering, physical abuse, psychological abuse, emotional abuse, verbal aggression, and expressed violence, and definitions of these terms are not consistent. Furthermore, prevalence rates of partner abuse vary, and are difficult to compare across studies because the terminology used in research for “partner abuse” is not standardized (Follingstad, Rutledge, Berg, Hause, & Polek, 1990; Smith, Thornton, DeVellis, Earp, & Coker, 2002; Sugarman & Hotaling, 1989). In addition variations in sampling (Sugarman & Hotaling, 1989) and measurement (Bogat, Levendosky, Theran, von Eye, & Davidson, 2003) further confound comparisons across studies. Stein Masters Thesis Page 3 Noting these complicating factors in cross-study comparison, Sugarman and Hotaling’s (1989) review of studies on dating violence reported prevalence rates of sustained physical abuse among women ranging from 10.6% (Makepeace, 1983) to 57% (Marshall & Rose, 1987). Using data from the National Violence Against Women Survey, Tjaden and Thoennes (2000) found a 22% lifetime prevalence among women of physical and/or sexual assault by a male partner. Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), an annual survey sponsored by the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics indicated that intimate partner violence constituted 20% of violent crime against women in 2001 (Rennison, 2003), and that young women age 16 to 24 were at greatest risk for abuse (Rennison, 2001). A national survey of college students indicated that approximately 87-88% of women were in relationships where verbal aggression occurred between partners, and 32% sustained some physical aggression (White & Koss, 1991). A population-based study investigating “intimate partner violence” found that 18.4% of the sample had experienced some type of battering, physical assault, or sexual assault in their current or most recent relationship (Smith et al., 2002). Finally, a study of courtinvolved battered women found that 80% of their sample of physically abused women had also experienced psychological abuse (Henning & Klesges, 2003). Despite varying prevalence rates among studies, it is clear even from a brief review of the literature that partner abuse is quite common in partner relationships, particularly psychological abuse. Although consistent definitions of physical and psychological abuse remain somewhat elusive, acts of physical force and/or threats of violence are usually thought to constitute physical abuse (Sugarman & Hotaling, 1989) while behaviors such as social isolation and humiliation, verbal battering, and economic deprivation are generally considered types of psychologically abusive behaviors (Walker, 1979). In developing a measure of psychologically abusive behaviors used in the current study, Murphy and Hoover (2001) expanded the Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus, 1979), which Stein Masters Thesis Page 4 conceptualized psychological abuse as “verbal aggression,” and divided psychological abuse into four discrete categories similar to those proposed by Walker (1979): restrictive engulfment, hostile withdrawal, denigration, and domination/intimidation. Both psychological and physical partner abuse have been observed in college students’ partner relationships (Arias, Samios, & O’Leary, 1987; White & Koss, 1991). However, while physical abuse has been studied extensively, less research has been done on the phenomenon of psychological abuse despite the fact that it may be as much as twice as common as physical abuse (White & K