A study conducted in Portugal, involving men convicted of intimate partner violence, has uncovered a correlation between childhood exposure to such violence, aggressive traits, and the prevalence of intimate partner violence in adulthood. Aggression, and particularly physical aggression, mediated the link between exposure to intimate partner violence in childhood and perpetration of such violence in adulthood. The paper was published in Deviant Behavior.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events that occur before the age of 18. These include experiences of abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual), neglect (physical or emotional), and household dysfunction (such as domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness, parental separation or divorce, or an incarcerated household member). ACEs can have long-lasting effects on a person’s mental, physical, and emotional health and well-being into adulthood. They are linked to chronic health problems, mental illness, and substance misuse in adulthood, as well as decreased educational and occupational achievement.
Child maltreatment, a specific category of ACEs, encompasses any act or series of acts, whether by commission or omission, by a parent, caregiver, or other adult that results in harm, the potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child. Acts of commission involve physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. On the other hand, acts of omission relate to various forms of neglect, including the failure to meet basic physical, emotional, or educational needs or to safeguard the child from harm or potential harm. Such maltreatment can significantly affect a child’s ability to regulate emotions, often leading to heightened vigilance towards threats and a propensity to perceive hostile intentions in others. These factors may contribute to the development of aggressive behavior.
Study author Olga Cunha and her colleagues wanted to investigate the link between exposure to intimate partner violence in childhood and adolescence and the perpetration of intimate partner violence in adulthood. They also wanted to verify whether this link is mediated by aggression and, if it is, by what kind of aggression. Their expectation was that exposure to intimate partner violence in early years of life will lead to higher aggression. Higher aggression will, in turn, make an individual more likely to perpetrate intimate partner violence later in life.
The study involved 245 men convicted of crimes against an intimate partner. Of these, 58% were incarcerated, while the remainder were serving community orders, such as suspended prison sentences. Their ages varied from 22 to 81 years, with 72% having received 4 to 6 years of education. Slightly over half had no prior convictions.
The researchers gathered data through a questionnaire, which covered the participants’ education level, socioeconomic status, marital status, and criminal history. They also reviewed the participants’ criminal records for comprehensive background information. The questionnaire included queries regarding childhood or adolescent exposure to intimate partner violence, such as instances of a mother or stepmother being physically abused. Furthermore, the participants completed assessments to measure the frequency of intimate partner violence (using the Marital Violence Inventory) and levels of aggression (via the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire).
Results showed that participants who were exposed to intimate partner violence as children or adolescents tended to be more physically aggressive and to more often experience anger. They also reported perpetrating intimate partner violence more frequently. This was the case with both physical and psychological intimate partner violence.
The research team tested a statistical model which suggested that exposure to intimate partner violence results in increased aggression, which in turn, leads to more frequent intimate partner violence. The results confirmed that such a relationship pattern between these factors is plausible. However, aggression only partially explained the connection between childhood exposure to intimate partner violence and its frequency in adulthood.
When analyzing the model with a focus solely on physical aggression, the results were similar. Nonetheless, aggression did not mediate the relationship between childhood exposure to intimate partner violence and the frequency of specific types of such violence, whether physical or psychological.
“Our findings contribute to previous literature by demonstrating a positive link between exposure to IPV [intimate partner violence] in childhood, aggression traits, and physical aggression traits, and IPV frequency in adulthood. In addition, our study revealed the mediating role of overall aggression traits and physical aggression traits in the relationship between exposure to IPV in childhood and IPV frequency in adulthood and specific physical IPV,” study authors concluded.
“These findings highlight the role of aggression traits and physical aggression traits on the perpetration of physical and total IPV, claiming our attention to the need to include strategies to increase emotion regulation and problem-solving strategies in perpetrators’ intervention programs.”
The study sheds light on the links between adverse childhood experiences and violence later in life. However, it also has limitations that need to be taken into account. The assessment of exposure to intimate partner violence in childhood and adolescence relied exclusively on yes/no questions and the participants’ recollections, which may affect the accuracy of the findings. Research incorporating more objective measures of exposure could yield different outcomes. Moreover, as the study exclusively involved men convicted of intimate partner violence, the results may not be generalizable to the broader population.
The paper, “Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence in Childhood and Partner Violence Perpetration in Adulthood: The Mediating Role of Aggression”, was authored by Olga Cunha, Ana Rita Cruz, Andreia de Castro Rodrigues, Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves, and Maria Manuela Peixoto.
