NCJ Number
209512
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 19 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2004 Pages: 329-338
Date Published
December 2004
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study tested the hypothesis that risk factors for persistent antisocial behavior are predictive of the persistence of partner aggression.
Abstract
This hypothesis was tested in a community sample of young heterosexual couples with physically aggressive males who were followed from premarriage through the first 30 months of their marriages. The participants (n=396) were drawn from a community sample of couples planning marriage between 1983 and 1986 in Onondaga and Suffolk Counties (New York). For the current analyses, only couples who participated at all 4 assessment points (n=238), and in which the husband was physically aggressive at the initial assessment (n=94) were retained. Participants were assessed four times: at about 1 month before marriage and at 6, 18, and 30 months after marriage. At each of these visits the couple completed a packet of questionnaires: the Conflict Tactics Scale, the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test, the Jackson Personality Research Form-E, and the Family Violence Questionnaire. The findings show that just over 76 percent of the men who were physically aggressive during the engagement period were physically aggressive at one or more of the next three assessments. Nearly 62 percent were severely aggressive at one or more assessments. Results were generally supportive of the hypothesis that risk factors for persistent antisocial behavior predict the persistence of aggression. More frequent physical partner aggression, aggressive personality styles, general aggression, and witnessing interparental aggression in the family of origin were associated with continued aggression. Only general aggression and premarital physical aggression predicted the persistence of severe aggression. 2 figures, 3 tables, and 31 references