Comparing Behavior Assessment Measures with Behavior Specific Responses to Assess Aggression in First-Time Expectant Fathers

Thirty-four randomly recruited first-time expectant fathers, ages 20 years to 40 years, were administered a battery of survey questions each trimester of their wives’ pregnancy. This study compared Behavior Assessment Measures (Clinical Anxiety Scale, Selfism-Scale, and the Index of Self-Esteem) to Behavior Specific Measures (Non-Physical Abuse of Partner Scale and the Aggression Inventory) to see if any correlations exist among the test data. The study is trying to identify specific test or survey questions that measure attitudinal or behavioral changes in first-time expectant fathers over the nine months of their spouse’s pregnancy. The results indicated a statistically significant correlation between self-esteem and narcissism, non-physical abuse and aggression, and non-physical abuse and anxiety. The Self-Esteem measures appear to have the highest correlations to determine attitudinal changes of first-time expectant fathers. Comparing Behavior 1 Comparing Behavior Assessment Measures with Behavior Specific Responses to Assess Aggression in First-Time Expectant Fathers Until recently, pregnancy was viewed almost exclusively in terms of the psychological, social, and physical changes of the female during pregnancy. Little empirical research has been conducted on expectant fathers to determine if there are attitudinal or behavioral changes during their spouse’s pregnancy. Only a few investigators have reported research that specifically addresses the nature of pregnancy-related symptoms in the prospective fathers. This study will compare aggressive behaviors to non-aggressive behaviors in first-time expectant fathers. Sigmund Freud hypothesized that all humans possessed an aggressive drive from birth, which, together with the sexual drive, contributed to personality development, and ultimately found expression in behavior (Archer & Brown, 2000). Austrian ethologist Konrad Lorenze suggested that aggression was innate, an inherited fighting instinct, as significant in humans as it was in other animals. He contended that the suppression of aggressive instincts, common among human societies, allows these instincts the chance to build up, occasionally to the point where they are released during instances of explosive violence. Many psychoanalysts see aggression as a primary drive, offering the possibility that aggression may be a reaction to frustration of primary needs. Other factors, including learning difficulties, minimal brain damage, brain abnormalities, such as temporal lobe epilepsy, and social factors such as crowding and poverty, have been suggested as contributing factors in certain cases of exaggeratedly aggressive behavior. Psychological investigation into aggressive behavior continues, with significant corrolary studies being performed in endocrinology and in primate research to determine whether hormonal imbalances have an impact on behavior. Each theory may be accurate in part, since aggression Comparing Behavior 2 is believed to have a number of determining factors. Despite the commonality of determinants, there are significant differences between partner violence and other types of violent behavior. Most violence outside the family involves individuals with limited personal contact; partner aggression involves individuals who have an intense, continuing interpersonal relationship. The interpersonal relationship of individuals involved in partner violence usually includes an emotional relationship of attachment, emotional and sexual intimacy, or dependency between partners such that the physical and sexual violence occurs within an intimate relationship context. The relationship context includes a history of prior relationship behavior and expectations and goals for the relationship (West, 2000). Aggression toward a partner includes both physical and psychological aggression. Psychological aggression refers to behavior that is offensive or degrading to the partner usually involving verbal behaviors, such as threats or insults, as well as actions, such as damage to personal property. This behavior, sometimes termed emotional abuse, is usually present in violent couples and has been reported by many women, as having a more severe impact on them than physical aggression (Follingstad, Rutledge, Berg, Hause, & Polck, 1990). Most men and women who exhibit physical aggression toward partners are located at the low end of the severity/frequency continuum of partner aggression and engage in infrequent and minor acts of physical aggression such as pushing, slapping, shoving and hitting on less injurable body parts (i.e. shoulder rather than face). However, a large majority of seriously violent perpetrators are males and victims are females, demonstrated by studies completed by Reiss & Roth, (1993-1994) of individuals who engage in or are the victims of more serious partner violence. Typically, 80 to 90 percent of perpetrators are males. This finding mirrors results of Comparing Behavior 3 serious criminal behavior in which 90 percent of arrestees for violent crimes, including murder, rape, and aggravated assaults, are males. In an extensive analysis of this issue, Morse (1995) reports that women engage in as much minor and moderate acts of physical aggression as do males, but males engage in a much higher proportion of serious aggression than do females. Thus, 2 percent to 4 percent of males report beating up their partners on average less than once a year. Moreover, women were two to four times as likely to require medical care for an injury as were males. The Pulido (2001) study on Family Violence, held during the period of July 1, 1998, through June 30, 1999, found that out of 858 patients screened, 46 women admitted to be currently involved in a domestic violence relationship and requested assistance. Twenty of these women disclosed physical abuse such as hitting and beating and hair pulling. Twenty-six women described emotional abuse, in which threatening and degrading remarks were experienced; the women’s feelings of inadequacy often were exacerbated by their lack of control over the allocations of money earned and the inability to leave because of the partner’s control over all financial resources. Fifteen women stated that they knew a close friend or family member who was a victim of domestic violence and accepted information on their behalf. This response also could be interpreted as a hesitancy to identify themselves as victims at the time, as a result of their fear of the batterer. Domestic violence is a major health concern in the United States. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (1998) defines domestic violence as a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks, as well as economic coercion, used against current or former intimate partners. Violence does not stop Comparing Behavior 4 during pregnancy. Norton, Peipert, Ziegler, Lima, and Hume (1995) and Jones and Horan (1997) noted that an estimated 7 percent to 17 percent of those screened for domestic violence admitted to abuse during pregnancy. Many providers of obstetric care do not screen every patient, so many domestic violence victims are undetected. Violence during pregnancy may be even more harmful, since it poses a significant additional threat to the fetus. Muhajarien and Nazeem (1999) report that physical abuse during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarrage, abruptio placentae, preterm labour and delivery, fetal fractures and low birth weight. Other adverse consequences for the woman may include rupture of the uterus, liver or spleen, antepartum hemorrhage and pelvic fractures. They found the associations between physical abuse and perceived stress and negative life events reflect the generally unfavorable conditions in which abused women live. The association between stress and physical abuse, where stress was measured both as a generalized global measure and in relation to specific negative events, indicates the profound psychological implications of abuse on women. Bibring (1959) reported that before becoming a father for the first time, a man cares only for himself, and the closest he gets to an individual is his affection for his mate. However, his relationship to his wife changes with the pregnancy and his new parenthood. His wife is now the mother of his child. Together, they will be responsible for raising this child who will be an individual and this child will represent them both. The father and the child will have a special bond, encompassing identifications, concerns, and struggles that over time will widen. During this time in the father’s life, he will need to resolve persistent conflictual relationships he may have had with his own parents. Not all men may go through the same experiences during this Comparing Behavior 5 time; however, it appears tha t all men, especially first-time fathers, undergo considerable behavioral shifts and internal instability, and not many men are the same as they were before the birth of this child. Most men experience significant changes in their sense of responsibility, their relationships with their spouses, their attitudes toward this new child, and their feelings about who they are. Strickland (1987) stated that anxiety related to the additional emotional stress of parenthood was a significant predictor indicating that physical symptoms are evident in fathersto-be; this anxiety is related to additional emotional stress. She also found anxiety to be a positive predictor of hostility and psychological symptoms or measures of emotional well being. In a 1972 study, Trethowan found that fathers-to-be may repress or unconsciously conceal hostility, therefore increasing the expression of symptoms. Although not recent, several studies looking at the development of somatic symptoms in fathers during their wives’ pregnancies have centered on psychological factors connected to symptom formation. For example, Curtis (195