Understanding the effect of adverse childhood experiences on the risk of engaging in physical violence toward an intimate partner: The influence of relationship, social psychological, and sociodemographic contextual risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase the risk of engaging in intimate partner violence (IPV) in later life. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the association between ACEs and engaging in physical violence toward a romantic partner in emerging adulthood while also accounting for proximal life experiences, including social psychological, intimate relationship, and sociodemographic characteristics. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This study draws on two waves of data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, a 19-year population-based longitudinal cohort study of adolescents transitioning to adulthood from Lucas County, Ohio (United States). This investigation includes 878 (399 men and 479 women) emerging adults. METHODS: To evaluate the association between ACEs and IPV perpetration, two waves of survey data were used, collected in 2001 and 2011-2012. RESULTS: ACEs had a cumulative effect on IPV, where each additional ACE increased the odds of engaging in IPV by 51.0 % (p < 0.001). However, current drug use (OR = 1.131, p < 0.05), arguments between partners (OR = 1.517, p < 0.01), partner mistrust (OR = 1.663, p < 0.001), and jealousy and control (OR = 1.412, p < 0.001) were also significant correlates of IPV reports. CONCLUSIONS: ACEs are a significant predictor of IPV perpetration among emerging adults, even when accounting for more proximal risk factors. These findings suggest that individuals working with clients who engage in IPV would do well to address the long-term trauma impacts of early life adversity in addition to more proximal risk factors to reduce the risk of continued violence.

Gender, Relationship Concerns, and Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adulthood.

Purpose: Few studies have examined gender-specific concerns within intimate relationships that may be associated with conflict escalation and intimate partner violence (IPV). While prior theorizing has emphasized issues such as men's feelings of jealousy, the role of concerns and conflict related to men's actions has not been as thoroughly investigated. We draw on the life course perspective as background for assessing conflict areas related to men's and women's actions during the young adult period, and subsequently the association between such concerns and the odds of reporting IPV in a current/most recent relationship. Method: Building on a longitudinal data set focused on a large, diverse sample (Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, n = 904), we administered surveys that assessed whether disagreements about potential conflict areas-including but not limited to infidelity-related to male or female partner's actions. Results: Concerns about women's and men's actions were both related to the odds of reporting IPV experience, but disagreements about male partners' actions during young adulthood were actually more common, and relative to concerns about women's actions, more strongly associated with IPV. Conclusions: Research and programmatic efforts should give additional attention to specific areas around which couples' disagreements develop and conflicts sometimes escalate. A dyadic approach adds to the frequent emphasis on emotion management and control that center primarily on one partner's problematic relationship style-thus addressing the 'form' but not the 'content' of intimate partner conflicts. This approach would highlight a broader range of relationship dynamics than are currently included in theorizing and applied efforts.

Relationship Dynamics and Abusive Interactions in a National Sample of Youth and Young Adults.

Stemming intimate partner violence among adults demands earlier education and skill-building supportive of healthy youth and young adult dating relationships. The current U.S.-based study examines a spectrum of youth and young adult relationship dynamics (RDs), inclusive of abusive interactions. In a nationally representative cohort of youth aged 10-18 at baseline and one parent or caregiver, survey responses regarding RDs from 618 participants ages 15-23 at wave 5 follow-up were analyzed. Latent class analysis of four positive dynamics, six problematic dynamics, and three scales of adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) were estimated, yielding four latent profiles of dating RDs. Relationships characterized by Unhealthy and Intense RDs both exhibited high probability of ARA but differed from each other in terms of other positive and problematic dynamics. Relationships characterized by Disengaged RDs had lower probability of ARA but elevated probability of awkward communications, negative feelings, social liability, and other challenging dynamics. Several baseline covariates were significantly associated with profiles of dating RDs approximately 5 years later. Younger participants were more likely to subsequently fall in an Intense or Disengaged RDs profile, as were participants with baseline emotional health problems. Further, classification in the Unhealthy RDs profile was less likely for participants reporting a better baseline relationship with their parents and more likely for those exposed to violence in childhood. These findings suggest that in addition to developmental maturity, youth and young adults would benefit from closer investigation and processing of past emotional and relational issues and traumas to foster healthier dating relationships.

The Influence of Peers, Romantic Partners, and Families on Emerging Adults' Sexual Behavior.

Prior research acknowledges that families and peers influence adolescents' sexual behaviors. Far fewer studies have explored whether and how families and peers influence sexual behaviors among emerging adults, especially among those in committed intimate partnerships, while also accounting for dynamics specific to the intimate relationship and respondents' sociodemographic characteristics. Even less is known about whether and how previous romantic relationship experiences might influence emerging adults' future sexual behavior both within and outside the confines of committed intimate partnerships. Drawing on longitudinal data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, we examined how emerging adults' family backgrounds, peers' sexual attitudes and behaviors, and past and current relationship experiences influenced their engagement in casual sex and sexual non-exclusivity. We found that each of these contexts was significant predictors of emerging adults' casual sex, and that both peers and romantic relationship experiences significantly influenced the likelihood of engaging in sexually non-exclusive behaviors among those in committed dating, cohabiting, and marital partnerships. We discuss potential theoretical mechanisms linking these relationships and provide suggestions for future research.

"Micro-cultures" of conflict: Couple-level perspectives on reasons for and causes of intimate partner violence in young adulthood.

Objective: To highlight the development of young adult couples' shared understandings about reasons for conflict in their relationships, views about why some disagreements included the use of aggression ("causes"), and gendered perspectives on these relationship dynamics. Background: Feminist theories have centered on relationship dynamics associated with intimate partner violence (IPV), but have focused primarily on men's concerns (e.g., jealousy) and use of violence as a means of control over female partners. The current analysis drew on symbolic interaction theory as a framework for exploring couple-level concerns, and ways in which dyadic communication contributes to these understandings, or what can be considered "micro-cultures" of conflict. Method: The study relied on in-depth interviews with a heterogeneous sample of IPV-experienced young adults who had participated in a larger longitudinal study (Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study [TARS]) and separate interviews with their partners (n = 90). Results: Analyses revealed that women's concerns about men's actions (e.g., infidelity) were frequently cited as reasons for serious conflicts, and showed significant concordance in partners' reports. Shared understandings sometimes extended to views on the role of more distal causes (e.g., family background) and the meaning(s) of each partner's use of aggression. Gendered dynamics included men's tendency to minimize women's concerns, and both partners' more open discussions of women's perpetration. Conclusions: Theories of IPV and associated programmatic efforts should include attention to the social construction of these "micro-cultures," as these shared meanings affect behavior, are potentially malleable, and add to the more intuitive focus on one-sided forces of control and constraint.

The Stress of Motherhood and Intimate Partner Violence during Emerging Adulthood.

Intimate partner violence is a serious social and public health problem for women. Researchers have shown the context in which intimate partner violence occurs matters, yet, prior work has not examined specifically whether motherhood, and the relationship context of motherhood, are associated with physical violence. Drawing on the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n = 492), and the stress process framework, we compared emerging adult mothers' (mothers with one child and mothers with multiple children) and non-mothers' reports of physical violence. Using negative binomial regression models, we found that mothers with multiple children compared with non-mothers reported more instances of relationship violence. We also found women in dating relationships with one child compared to non-mothers reported substantially more physical violence. These findings underscore the nature of stress and motherhood during emerging adulthood and the need for intervention strategies that target new mothers.

The Relationship Between Medical Diagnoses, Risk Perceptions, and Social Distancing Compliance: An Analysis of Data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study.

Background: The health belief model suggests that individuals' beliefs affect behaviors associated with health. This study examined whether Ohioans' pre-existing medical health diagnoses affected their belief about personal health risk and their compliance with social distancing during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Prior research examining physical and mental diagnoses and social distancing compliance is nearly nonexistent. We examined whether physical and mental health diagnoses influenced individuals' beliefs that their health is at risk and their adherence with social distancing guidelines. Methods: The study used longitudinal cohort data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n = 790), which surveyed Ohioans prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dependent variables included belief that an individual's own health was at risk and social distancing compliance. Independent variables included physical and mental health diagnoses, pandemic-related factors (fear of COVID-19, political beliefs about the pandemic, friends social distance, family social distance, COVID-19 exposure), and sociodemographic variables (age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational level). Results: Individuals who had a pre-existing physical health diagnosis were more likely to believe that their personal health was at risk during the pandemic but were not more likely to comply with social distancing guidelines. In contrast, individuals who had a pre-existing mental health diagnosis were more compliant with social distancing guidelines but were not more likely to believe their personal health was at risk. Individuals who expressed greater fear of COVID-19 believed their health is more at risk than those who expressed lower levels of fear. Conclusion: Health considerations are important to account for in assessments of responses to the pandemic, beliefs about personal health risk, and social distancing behavior. Additional research is needed to understand the divergence in the findings regarding physical health, beliefs about personal health risk, and social distancing compliance. Further, research is needed to understand how mental health issues impact decision-making related to social distancing compliance.

Cognitive schemas and fertility motivations in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While current evidence indicates that the United States did not experience a baby boom during the pandemic, few empirical studies have considered the underlying rationale for the American baby bust. Relying on data collected during the pandemic (n = 574), we find that pandemic-related subjective assessments (e.g., self-reported stress, fear of COVID-19 and relationship struggles) and not economic indicators (e.g., employment status, income level) were related to levels of fertility motivations among individuals in relationships. Analysis of within-person changes in fertility motivations shows that shifts in the number of children, increases in mental health issues and increases in relationship uncertainty, rather than changes in economic circumstances, were associated with short-term assessments of the importance of avoiding a pregnancy. We argue for broadening conceptual frameworks of fertility motivations by moving beyond a focus on economic factors to include a cognitive schema that takes subjective concerns into account.

Some cognitive transformations about the dynamics of desistance.

This article explores the role of cognitive transformations in the process of desistance from crime. Based on our own and others' subsequent research, clearly, some aspects of our initial theorizing warrant revisiting and adjustment. The discussion describes changes to ideas about the sequencing of various types of cognitive shifts, suggests the importance of emotional processes in tandem with changes in perspective, and highlights the need to move out of the comfort zone of crime itself when thinking about redefinitions that support desistance. Yet, a consistent notion remains that social and broader structural factors are deeply implicated-directly and indirectly-in all aspects of the change process. This includes the important area of "derailments" from a pattern of forward progress, where additional processual research is needed. The discussion concludes with the argument that individualistic policies and programs centered on cognitive deficits requiring correction are likely to be limited in their effectiveness.

Adolescents' Frequency of Alcohol Use and Problems from Alcohol Abuse: Integrating Dating Partners with Parent and Peer Influences.

Despite the centrality of dating relationships for teens, it is unclear whether the influence of romantic partners' alcohol use on adolescents' under-age drinking is distinct from the influence of peers and parents. To address this gap, this study used longitudinal data from a population-based sample of 825 adolescents (49% male, 51% female), ages 12 to 19. Adolescents completed a survey using laptops for privacy, and a parent completed a survey separately. Ordinary least squares and logistic regression models assessed alcohol use frequency and alcohol problems and included dating partners' drinking, adolescents' prior drinking, peers' drinking, parents' substance use, parental monitoring, and sociodemographic background characteristics. Alcohol use frequency and alcohol problems were influenced by dating partners' alcohol use and dating partners' influence was stronger on older adolescents and male adolescents. The study results are useful for public health messaging and prevention efforts by demonstrating the influence of parents, peers, and dating partners on teens' alcohol use.

An Exploratory Investigation of Parental Incarceration, Emotional Independence, and Adult Children's Criminal Activity.

Although research suggests that parental incarceration is associated with intergenerational continuity in crime, the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Using multi-population structural equation modeling and data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (n = 1207), the current study explored specific experiences associated with labeling as well as internalizing labels, including experiencing corporal punishment during childhood, criminal arrests during adolescence, and identifying as a troublemaker/partier in young adulthood (measured with reflected appraisals), as potential mechanisms linking parental incarceration and young adults' offending. We assessed whether this association differed by young adults' level of emotional independence, that is, freedom from the need for parental approval. We found that parental incarceration indirectly influenced criminal activity particularly through identifying as a troublemaker/partier during young adulthood but only for those who sought parental approval. Overall, we concluded that high emotional independence, or not seeking parental approval, may be a protective factor that facilitates intergenerational discontinuities in crime.

The Relationship Context of Early Transitions to Parenthood: The Influence of Arrest.

In the U.S., many young adults who have had contact with the criminal justice system are parents. Using the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (n = 1321), we drew on family demography and criminology literatures to examine the association between arrest, an understudied indicator of contact with the criminal justice system, and transitions to early parenthood. We also distinguished transitions to parenthood that occurred within four different relationship contexts: (1) single; (2) dating; (3) cohabiting; and (4) married. Using event history analyses, we found that young men and women who experienced an arrest transitioned to parenthood earlier than their counterparts who were not arrested. Further, men with an arrest, compared to men who had not been arrested, were more likely to report that they were dating the biological mother of their first child around the time of birth. In contrast, women with an arrest had an increased likelihood of having their first birth while cohabiting with the biological father. Our results highlighted the importance of a prior arrest for early transitions to parenthood and are relevant for understanding the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage and the diverging destinies of children and parents. Furthermore, the gender differences in the results illustrated the importance of including women in criminal justice analyses and men in fertility analyses.

Relationship Dynamics Associated with Dating Violence among Adolescents and Young Adults: A Feminist Post-Structural Analysis.

We focus on the character of adolescent and young adult relationships, and argue that attention to interpersonal features of intimate partner violence (IPV) is necessary for a comprehensive view of this form of violence. Drawing on ideas from feminist post-structural perspectives, we highlight studies that develop a somewhat non-traditional but nevertheless gendered portrait of relationships as a backdrop for exploring dyadic processes associated with IPV. Findings are based on quantitative and qualitative analyses from a longitudinal study of a large, diverse sample of young women and men interviewed first during adolescence, and five additional times across the transition to adulthood.

The Role of Marriage and Military Service on Reoffending: Race, "The Respectability Package," and the Desistance Process.

We build on prior research examining military involvement and criminal involvement by investigating the importance of acquiring the more complete "respectability package" that includes marriage as well as military experience and variations among White and Black respondents. Using data from Waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; n = 5,801), analyses use logistic regression models to assess associations of military service, marriage, and race with odds of reoffending among White and Black young adults who reported offending at Wave I. Military involvement was associated with lower odds of offending for Black respondents only, while marriage was associated with decreased odds of reoffending across both groups. Among Black respondents, analyses also highlighted the importance of acquiring both components of the respectability package (military service and marriage) in the context of today's all-volunteer force in reducing criminal involvement.

The Influence of Demographic, Relational, and Risk Asymmetries on the Frequency of Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adulthood.

Social characteristics are prominent factors in mate selection, but they can be risk factors for intimate partner violence. Yet this prior work is limited, as it largely focuses on demographic differences (or asymmetries) between intimate partners. In addition to demographic asymmetries, we explored how differences in relational and risk behaviors were associated with intimate partner violence. Examining data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n=828), we found that either partner's unemployment is associated with greater frequency of relationship violence; and, compared to same-race relationships, interracial relationships reported higher frequency of partner violence. Additionally, relationships in which men compared to their partners were more invested, were characterized by lower frequency of violence. Relationships characterized by any asymmetry in power, compared to those in which both partners held equal power, were also characterized by higher frequency of partner violence. Relationships in which the female partner was more successful at school or work compared to the male partner were associated with more frequent partner violence. Lastly, compared to relationships in which neither partner engaged in antisocial/criminal activity, those in which the male, but not female partner was antisocial/criminal and those in which both partners engaged in antisocial/criminal activity reported greater frequency of partner violence. These findings highlighted the importance of considering different types of asymmetries for understanding intimate partner violence in young adult relationships.

When Worlds Collide: Linking Involvement with Friends and Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adulthood.

Recent increases in the average age at first marriage have created an extended period during which young adults frequently continue to socialize with friends, even as romantic ties typically become increasingly serious. Nevertheless, little research has focused on some of the challenges associated with navigating these two social worlds simultaneously. The current study expanded the traditional lens of social learning theory to investigate associations between a range of attitudes and behaviors of friends and a serious form of conflict-intimate partner violence (IPV). Analyses relied on structured survey and in-depth interview data from a longitudinal study of a large, diverse sample of male and female respondents followed across the adolescent to adult transition (n = 928). Consistent with prior work, friends' IPV experience was significantly associated with respondents' own IPV perpetration. Yet the social learning perspective we developed highlighted the importance of considering a broader portfolio of friends' characteristics. Controlling for friends' IPV experience and family background: (a) involvement with friends perceived as more liberal in their attitudes toward dating and sexuality and (b) friends' delinquent behavior were both associated with the odds of reporting IPV. Further, longitudinal analyses showed an effect of variability in friends' delinquency on within-individual changes in IPV across the full study period, suggesting that the association is not due solely to an underlying antisocial propensity. In-depth interviews with a subset of respondents (n = 102) corroborate these results, further illuminate underlying mechanisms, and highlight the dynamic aspects of these forms of social involvement during young adulthood.

Identifying as a Troublemaker/Partier: The Influence of Parental Incarceration and Emotional Independence.

OBJECTIVES: Researchers have found that experiencing parental incarceration has long-term consequences for children, such as involvement in crime. However, few studies have examined how parental incarceration influences identity endorsement. Given that self-identities influence behavior, including criminal activity, understanding precursors of self-identities is important. In the current paper, we examined the association between parental incarceration and young adult children's deviant self-identities. Furthermore, we explored how this association varied by emotional independence, or freedom from the excessive need for parental approval. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n = 965), a sample of men and women interviewed five times over a period of ten years (2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2011), and publically available official incarceration records. RESULTS: Parental incarceration was only positively associated with identifying as a troublemaker/partier during young adulthood among those with low emotional independence (i.e., for those with the need for parental approval) (p < 0.05). That is, parental incarceration was inconsequential for young adults' identifying as troublemakers/partiers among those with high levels of emotional independence (i.e., for those with freedom from the need for parental approval). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the development of high emotional independence, or values, beliefs, and identities in contrast to and separate from an incarcerated parent, may attenuate the intergenerational transmission of antisocial identities and behavior.

Perpetration of Adolescent Dating Relationship Abuse: The Role of Conditional Tolerance for Violence and Friendship Factors.

Research has pointed to the salience of friendships in predicting abuse in adolescent dating relationships. The current study investigates the perpetration of physical and sexual dating abuse as predicted by individual conditional tolerance for dating abuse within the context of friendship behaviors and group characteristics. Using two waves of the National Survey of Teen Relationships and Intimate Violence (STRiV; N = 511 daters aged 12-18 years), we investigated the effects of baseline individual tolerance for hitting dating partners and friendship factors on perpetration of physical and sexual adolescent dating abuse (ADA) approximately 1 year later. Conditional tolerance for hitting boyfriends was associated with ADA perpetration in the absence of friendship characteristics. Daters who reported recent discussion of a problem with friends and female daters who named all-girl friendship groups were more likely to report ADA perpetration. Close friendships are an avenue for preventing ADA perpetration. Furthermore, ADA perpetration may be reduced by targeting conditional tolerance for violence particularly against male partners within female friendship groups.

Desistance from Crime during the Transition to Adulthood: The Influence of Parents, Peers, and Shifts in Identity.

OBJECTIVES: Research on criminal continuity and change has traditionally focused on elements of the adult life course (e.g., marriage and employment); however, recent social and economic changes suggest the need to consider a broader range of factors. In addition, researchers have increasingly recognized the importance of identity changes in the desistance process. METHODS: Using five waves of structured data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS), we examined identity changes, shifts in involvement with delinquent peers, and variability in closeness with parents as influences on desistance. In-depth interviews with a subset of TARS respondents offered a person-centered lens on individual and social processes associated with variability in criminal behavior. RESULTS: Findings indicated that identity changes were associated with declines in offending. In addition, changes in parental closeness and the extent of affiliation with antisocial peers contributed to patterns of offending, net of these subjectively experienced cognitive changes. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive processes are important to desistance. However, they do not independently provide a path to sustained behavioral change. Social experiences, including changes in relationships/supports from parents and affiliation with delinquent peers, also figure into change processes. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research and programmatic efforts.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: TOWARD A LIFE-COURSE PERSPECTIVE ON SOCIAL LEARNING.

Sutherland's differential association theory and the life course perspective have at times been conceptualized as contrasting theories of criminal behavior. I argue instead that our understanding of delinquency, the dynamics underlying criminal persistence and desistance, and intergenerational patterns, will be enhanced by a more explicit integration of these two traditions. I focus on family processes, as these are foundational intimate relationships that remain underappreciated as a source of lifelong learning and influence. While family support and variations in parental supervision have been amply investigated, 'direct transmission' takes place within the family as well as within the confines of the more heavily studied world of adolescent peer groups. I identify five dimensions of direct transmission, and illustrate these dynamic processes with qualitative data from two longitudinal studies and results of recent quantitative analyses. The analysis is generally in line with Sutherland's original formulation, but includes several extensions and modifications. It is important to include a role for human agency, and for 'non-criminal' definitions and lifestyle factors, in addition to the directly criminogenic definitions Sutherland and subsequent researchers have emphasized. The focus on social processes is, however, consistent with Sutherland's goal of highlighting limitations of psychological and biological differences explanations.