Intimate Partner Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms: Indirect Effects Through Negative and Positive Emotion Dysregulation

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110063
Author(s):  
Lauren E. Simpson ◽  
Alexa M. Raudales ◽  
Miranda E. Reyes ◽  
Tami P. Sullivan ◽  
Nicole H. Weiss

Women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) are at heightened risk for developing posttraumatic stress (PTS). Emotion dysregulation has been linked to both IPV and PTS, separately, however, unknown is the role of emotion dysregulation in the relation of IPV to PTS among women who experience IPV. Moreover, existing investigations in this area have been limited in their focus on negative emotion dysregulation. Extending prior research, this study investigated whether physical, sexual, and psychological IPV were indirectly associated with PTS symptom severity through negative and positive emotion dysregulation. Participants were 354 women who reported a history of IPV recruited from Amazon’s MTurk platform ( Mage = 36.52, 79.9% white). Participants completed self-report measures assessing physical (Conflict Tactics Scale), sexual (Sexual Experiences Scale), and psychological (Psychological Maltreatment of Women) IPV; negative (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale) and positive (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Positive) emotion dysregulation; and PTS symptom severity (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5) via an online survey. Pearson’s correlation coefficients examined intercorrelations among the primary study variables. Indirect effect analyses were conducted to determine if negative and positive emotion dysregulation explained the relations between physical, sexual, and psychological IPV and PTS symptom severity. Physical, sexual, and psychological IPV were significantly positively associated with both negative and positive emotion dysregulation as well as PTS symptom severity, with the exception that psychological IPV was not significantly associated with positive emotion dysregulation. Moreover, negative and positive emotion dysregulation accounted for the relationships between all three IPV types and PTS symptom severity, with the exception of positive emotion dysregulation and psychological IPV. Our findings provide support for the potential underlying role of both negative and positive emotion dysregulation in the associations of IPV types to PTS symptom severity. Negative and positive emotion dysregulation may be important factors to integrate into interventions for PTS among women who experience IPV.

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 854-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mónica Guzmán-González ◽  
Marie-France Lafontaine ◽  
Christine Levesque

Despite evidence that adult attachment insecurity has been linked to the perpetration of physical intimate violence, the mechanisms underlying this link need further exploration. The goal of this study was to evaluate the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties in the association between romantic attachment and the use of physical intimate partner violence. To this end, 611 students recruited from Chilean universities completed the Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses revealed that emotion regulation difficulties mediated the relationship between dimensions of romantic attachment (anxiety over abandonment and avoidance of intimacy) and physical violence perpetration among both male and female participants. Implications for future research and clinical practice are presented herein.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 749-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle S Thiessen ◽  
Zach Walsh ◽  
Brian M Bird ◽  
Adele Lafrance

Background: Recent evidence suggests that psychedelic use predicts reduced perpetration of intimate partner violence among men involved in the criminal justice system. However, the extent to which this association generalizes to community samples has not been examined, and potential mechanisms underlying this association have not been directly explored. Aims: The present study examined the association between lifetime psychedelic use and intimate partner violence among a community sample of men and women. The study also tested the extent to which the associations were mediated by improved emotion regulation. Methods: We surveyed 1266 community members aged 16–70 (mean age=22.78, standard deviation =7.71) using an online questionnaire that queried substance use, emotional regulation, and intimate partner violence. Respondents were coded as psychedelic users if they reported one or more instance of using lysergic acid diethylamide and/or psilocybin mushrooms in their lifetime. Results/outcomes: Males reporting any experience using lysergic acid diethylamide and/or psilocybin mushrooms had decreased odds of perpetrating physical violence against their current partner (odds ratio=0.42, p<0.05). Furthermore, our analyses revealed that male psychedelic users reported better emotion regulation when compared to males with no history of psychedelic use. Better emotion regulation mediated the relationship between psychedelic use and lower perpetration of intimate partner violence. This relationship did not extend to females within our sample. Conclusions/interpretation: These findings extend prior research showing a negative relationship between psychedelic use and intimate partner violence, and highlight the potential role of emotion regulation in this association.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1163-1182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle S. Berke ◽  
Dennis E. Reidy ◽  
Brittany Gentile ◽  
Amos Zeichner

Research suggests that masculine socialization processes contribute to the perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) by men. Although this research has traditionally focused on men who strongly adhere to traditional gender norms, men who negatively evaluate themselves as falling short of these norms (a construct termed masculine discrepancy stress) have proven to be at increased risk of IPV perpetration. Likewise, men experiencing problems with emotion regulation, a multidimensional construct reflecting difficulties in effectively experiencing and responding to emotional states, are also at risk of IPV perpetration. In the present research, we tested the hypothesis that the link between discrepancy stress and IPV perpetration is mediated via difficulties in emotion regulation. Three hundred fifty-seven men completed online surveys assessing their experience of discrepancy stress, emotion-regulation difficulties, and history of IPV perpetration. Results indicated that discrepancy-stressed men’s use of physical IPV was fully mediated by emotion-regulation difficulties. In addition, emotion-regulation difficulties partially mediated the association between discrepancy stress and sexual IPV. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential utility of emotion-focused interventions for modifying men’s experience and expression of discrepancy stress and reducing perpetration of IPV.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne L. Steel ◽  
Catherine J. Lutz-Zois ◽  
Laura E. Stayton ◽  
Jackson A. Goodnight ◽  
Rusty Schnellinger ◽  
...  

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