Daily Social and Emotional Worlds of Adolescents Who are Psychologically Maltreated by Their Romantic Partners

• NCJ Number: 222127
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 37 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2008 Pages: 310-323
• Author(s): Karen Gallaty; Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck
• Date Published: March 2008
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined how partner psychological maltreatment is associated with depression, daily interpersonal experiences, and affect.

Abstract

Results indicated that partner psychological maltreatment by romantic partners was associated with a greater number of hassles with partners, friends, and family, and greater perceived stressfulness of these hassles. Psychological maltreatment seems to be an especially potent experience that occurs along with greater romantic hassles and more interpersonal sensitivity. Maltreatment seems to spill over into relationships with friends and families by both increasing hassles and reactions to hassles in the case of friends, or decreasing uplifts and positive reactions to uplifts in the case of family. Compared to adolescents in the low maltreatment group, adolescents who experienced psychological maltreatment reported marginally more hassles with their partners and friends when averaged over 7 days, and perceived these hassles to be more stressful than those with low partner maltreatment. Depressive symptoms were higher among those with high as compared to low levels of partner psychological maltreatment. Affective reactions to daily outlets with partners and friends were similar among high and low partner maltreatment groups. However, there was a difference in positive reactivity to family uplifts between the two maltreatment groups: adolescents in the high psychological maltreatment group did not seem to read the positive emotional boost associated with family uplifts that were seen among those who reported low maltreatment. It seems that maltreatment by partner may spill over as greater interpersonal sensitivity to hassles with friends and family, and attenuates the benefits of family but not friend uplifts. Data were collected from 67 late adolescents between the ages of 17 and 22 who were currently in a romantic relationship. Tables, references