Impact of Victim, Offender, and Relationship Characteristics on Frequency and Timing of Intimate Partner Violence using Life History Calendar Data

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany E. Hayes
2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Barbaro ◽  
Todd K. Shackelford

Human life history theory describes how resources are allocated among conflicting life tasks, including trade-offs concerning reproduction. The current research investigates the unique importance of environmental unpredictability in childhood in association with romantic attachment, and explores whether objective or subjective measures of environmental risk are more informative for testing life history hypotheses. We hypothesize that (1) unpredictability in childhood will be associated with greater anxious attachment, (2) anxious attachment will be associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, and (3) anxious attachment will mediate the relationship between unpredictability in childhood and IPV perpetration. In two studies (total n = 391), participants in a heterosexual, romantic relationship completed self-report measures of childhood experiences, romantic attachment, and IPV perpetration. Study 1 provides support for Hypothesis 1. Hypothesis 1 is replicated only for men, but not women, in Study 2. Results of Study 2 provide support for Hypothesis 2 for men and women, and Hypothesis 3 was supported for men but not women. The findings contribute to the literature addressing the association of environmental risk in childhood on adult romantic relationship outcomes.


2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Yoshihama ◽  
B. Gillespie ◽  
A. C. Hammock ◽  
R. F. Belli ◽  
R. M. Tolman

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 1542-1556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ohad Szepsenwol ◽  
Osnat Zamir ◽  
Jeffry A. Simpson

According to life history theory, exposure to harshness and/or unpredictability early in life should promote a fast life history strategy. Such a strategy entails, among other traits, elevated aggression and impaired relationship functioning. While detrimental under safe and stable conditions, these characteristics become more evolutionary adaptive in a harsh and/or ever-changing environment in which risks are uncertain and the future is difficult to predict. Hence, individuals who experienced harshness and/or unpredictability in their early home environment should grow up to have more conflictual relationships and be at greater risk for experiencing or perpetrating intimate partner violence (IPV). We tested this hypothesis on 179 participants in the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, an ongoing prospective longitudinal study that has followed individuals from before they were born into adulthood. IPV was assessed by the Conflict Tactics Scale at ages 23, 26, and 32. As expected, experiencing more unpredictability during the first 5 years of life (indexed by frequent changes in parents’ employment status, cohabitation status, and residence) prospectively predicted both perpetrating and being the victim of IPV between ages 20 and 32. Experiencing harshness during the first 5 years of life (indexed by low socioeconomic status) only predicted being the victim of IPV. The early unpredictability effect on IPV perpetration was partially mediated by having more conflictual friendships during adolescence (assessed by a coder-rated friendship interview at age 16). These findings highlight the roles of early-life harshness and unpredictability both in promoting interpersonal conflict and violence and in impairing the capacity of individuals to maintain satisfying romantic relationships.


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