The authors hypothesized that masculine gender role stress would mediate the relationship between insecure attachment and controlling behaviors in a sample of men who batter. To examine this hypothesis, 143 men who were court mandated to attend a batterers' intervention program in a northeastern state completed measures including the Controlling…

The identification of variables that mediate the relationship between traumatic life events and posttraumatic symptomatology could help elucidate underlying causal mechanisms and improve therapeutic intervention offered to individuals suffering from posttraumatic stress. The authors examined whether adult attachment, as measured by Brennan, Clark,…

Research suggests that among college students, physical and sexual abuse in intimate relationships are associated with posttraumatic stress. Psychological abuse occurs in intimate relationships among college students, and though there is evidence that such abuse has a negative emotional impact, posttraumatic stress has not been extensively…

Women who experience recurrent intimate partner violence (IPV) may use alcohol or drugs because they expect that these substances will help them cope with the negative physical and psychological sequelae of IPV. However, expectancies for alcohol and drug use have not been explored among this population of women. We used the Relaxation and…

A dose-response model underlies posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posits a relationship between event magnitude and clinical outcome. The present study examines whether one index of event magnitude--duration of exposure--contributes to risk of PTSD among female victims of sexual assault. Findings support a small but significant contribution…

Children aged 6 to 12 who were exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) within the last year participated in an intervention program found to be successful in reducing their internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. However, little is known about factors that may contribute to this efficacy. Both fixed and modifiable risk factors that…

Intimate partner violence is extremely common in college samples. To inform prevention and intervention efforts, understanding the motivation for engaging in partner aggression is critically important. The predominant view in the domestic violence field has been that women's use of intimate partner violence occurs in the context of self-defense.…

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a significant problem in both clinical and nonclinical populations. Affect and state dysregulation are frequently observed in survivors of childhood sexual abuse and in those who engage in NSSI. Both have been found to predict NSSI, and affect regulation has also been modeled as a mediator of NSSI. This study…

This study investigated whether gender, stressful problems common among college students, and adult attachment orientations (anxiety and avoidance) contributed to self-reported perpetration of psychological abuse in dating relationships among 127 college students. College men's stress levels were the strongest predictor of perpetration of…

It is well documented that most trauma survivors recover from adversity and only a number of them go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In addition, survivors of interpersonal trauma (IPT) appear to be at heightened risk for developing PTSD in comparison to survivors of noninterpersonal trauma (NIPT). Despite a robust association…

The current study was developed to explore the associations between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), level of compensation for pain and suffering, and employment status in a sample of victims of violence (n = 226) who had held a full-time job at time of victimization and had filed a claim with the Dutch Victim Compensation Fund (DVCF)…

This longitudinal study examined the temporal-ordered causal relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV), five mental disorders (depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, panic attack, posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), alcohol abuse/dependence, drug abuse/ dependence, treatment seeking (from physician, counselor, and…

The type of causal attributions offered for traumatic life events has been documented as a potential vulnerability factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, few investigations have sought to identify the mechanisms by which such explanations are associated with greater posttraumatic distress. One possible factor that may account…

This study examines Merton's Classical Strain Theory (1938) as a causative factor in intimate partner violence among college students. We theorize that college students experience general life strain and cumulative strain as they pursue the goal of a college degree. We test this strain on the likelihood of using intimate partner violence. Strain…

Past research has shown that 37% to 52% of sexual assault survivors report experiencing a set of peritraumatic responses, which include gross motor inhibition, analgesia, and fixed or unfocused staring. This response set closely resembles a set of unconditioned responses, collectively known as Tonic Immobility (TI). This study examined TI among…