The relationship of intimate partner aggression to head injury, executive functioning, and intelligence.

Measures of head injury, executive functioning, and intelligence were given to a community sample composed of 102 male perpetrators of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and 62 nonaggressive men. A history of head injury and lower mean score on a measure of verbal intelligence were associated with the frequency of male-perpetrated physical IPA as reported by male perpetrators and their female partners. Lower mean scores on a measure of verbal intelligence also predicted frequency of psychological IPA perpetration. Using the perpetrator subtypes outlined by Holtzworth-Munroe et al. (2000), analyses revealed that compared with other groups, the most severely aggressive subtypes (i.e., borderline-dysphoric and generally violent-antisocial) were the most likely to report a history of head injury and to have significantly lower mean scores on a neuropsychological test of verbal intelligence. The possible role of neuropsychological factors in IPA perpetration and implications for prevention and intervention programs are discussed.

Drug abuse and aggression between intimate partners: a meta-analytic review.

The present investigation employed meta-analytic procedures to quantitatively evaluate the empirical evidence on the relationship between drug abuse and aggression between intimate partners. Data from 96 studies yielding 547 effect sizes indicated that increases in drug use and drug-related problems were significantly associated with increases in aggression between intimate partners (d= .27). Cocaine emerged as the illicit substance with the strongest relationship to psychological, physical, and sexual aggression (ds= .39 to .62). Marijuana was also identified as having a significant association with partner aggression. Results showed comparable effect sizes for men and women, regardless of the sex of the drug user and/or perpetrator of partner aggression, with female reports of aggression having yielded larger effect sizes than male reports. Moderator analyses revealed that relative to other groups, married or cohabiting couples and Black participants evidenced significantly stronger effect sizes. The findings are discussed in relation to possible mechanisms linking drugs to partner aggression, and implications for future research are discussed in terms of focusing on conducting studies that assess the interaction of context and temporal sequencing of drugs and partner aggression.

Examining a conceptual framework of intimate partner violence in men and women arrested for domestic violence.

OBJECTIVE: There is a paucity of research developing and testing conceptual models of intimate partner violence, particularly for female perpetrators of aggression. Several theorists' conceptual frameworks hypothesize that distal factors-such as personality traits, drinking patterns, and marital discord-influence each other and work together to increase the likelihood of physical aggression. The purpose of the present study was to investigate these variables in a relatively large sample of men and women arrested for domestic violence and court-referred to violence intervention programs. METHOD: We recruited 409 participants (272 men and 137 women) who were arrested for domestic violence. We assessed perpetrator alcohol problems, antisociality, trait anger, relationship discord, psychological aggression, and physical abuse. We also assessed the alcohol problems, psychological aggression, and physical abuse of their relationship partners. We used structural equation modeling to examine the interrelationships among these variables in both genders independently. RESULTS: In men and women, alcohol problems in perpetrators and their partners contributed directly to physical abuse and indirectly via psychological aggression, even after perpetrator antisociality, perpetrator trait anger, perpetrator relationship discord, and perpetrator and partner psychological and physical aggression were included in the model. The only significant gender difference found was that, in male perpetrators, trait anger was significantly associated with relationship discord, but this path was not significant for women perpetrators. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study provide further evidence that alcohol problems in both partners are important in the evolution of psychological aggression and physical violence. There were minimal differences between men and women in the relationships of most distal risk factors with physical aggression, suggesting that the conceptual framework examined may fit equally well regardless of perpetrator gender. This finding suggests that, in arrested men and women, violence intervention programs might have improved outcomes if they offered adjunct or integrated alcohol treatment.

Typologies of men who are maritally violent: scientific and clinical implications.

Varying levels and types of husband violence may be conceptualized as typologies of maritally violent men. Across studies, batterer subtypes resembling those proposed by Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) have been identified and generally found to differ in predicted ways. Longitudinal data from this study suggests that the subgroups continued to differ over three years. Over time, however, the placement of individual men into some subtypes was not stable. Whether to best conceptualize the heterogeneity among maritally violent men as differing subtypes or as variability along dimensions is considered. Clinical issues regarding the typology are discussed, including concern that the use of absolute cut-off points to identify subtypes is premature and consideration of using the typology to predict treatment outcome and to match interventions to subtypes. Regarding future research ideas, it is time to consider more immediate, situational and dyadic, processes leading to violence perpetration within each subtype.

Do subtypes of maritally violent men continue to differ over time?

In previous batterer typology studies, only 1 study gathered longitudinal data and no research examined whether subtypes continue to differ from one another over time. The present study did so. We predicted that, at 1.5- and 3-year follow-ups, the subtypes identified at Time 1 (A. Holtzworth-Munroe, J. C. Meehan. K. Herron, U. Rehman, G. L. Stuart, 2000; family only, low level antisocial, borderline/dysphoric, and generally violent/antisocial) would continue to differ in level of husband violence and on other relevant variables (e.g., generality of violence, psychopathology, jealousy, impulsivity, attitudes toward violence and women). Although many group differences emerged in the predicted direction, not all reached statistical significance, perhaps because of small sample sizes. Implications of the findings (e.g.. not all marital violence escalates; possible overlap of the borderline/dysphoric and generally violent/antisocial subgroups) are discussed, as are methodological issues (e.g., need for more assessments over time, the instability of violent relationships).

Husband violence: personality disorders among male batterers.

The potential role of personality disorders in understanding husband violence is a controversial issue. Although researchers consistently find high rates of personality disorders, particularly antisocial and borderline characteristics, among samples of male batterers, feminist theorists worry that such research will divert attention from the broader, societal changes believed necessary to end violence from men. The authors of this paper propose that consideration of personality dimensions, rather than diagnosable personality disorders, is the most productive method of examining the role of personality in husband violence. In particular, batterer typologies integrate our current understanding of the roles of differing personality characteristics in distinguishing among subtypes of violent husbands. The clinical implications of a batterer typology are considered.