Browsing by Author "Taft, Casey T."
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Item Neurocognitive Performance Predicts Future Partner Violence Among U.S. Iraq- and Afghanistan-deployed Army Soldiers and Veterans(APA, 2022) Chiu, Christopher; Gnall, Katherine; Pless Kaiser, Anica; Taft, Casey T.; Franz, Molly R.; Lee, Lewina O.; Vasterling, Jennifer J.Objective: Intimate partner violence (IPV) constitutes a major U.S. national health concern and disproportionately affects military families. Prior research, which has been conducted primarily in civilian populations, suggests that relative neurocognitive weaknesses may increase risk for IPV. This prospective study examined the associations between post-deployment neurocognitive performance and subsequent IPV (5 - 13 years later) among warzone veterans in the context of psychological health and TBI. Method: Participants were 217 warzone veterans from a nationally-dispersed sample of service members and veterans who had previously deployed to the Iraq war zone and their intimate partners. Warzone veterans had previously completed performance-based neurocognitive assessments at a post-deployment assessment. An average of eight years later, participants completed structured psychiatric interviews and psychometric surveys assessing TBI history, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, alcohol use, and IPV perpetration. Results: Regression analyses revealed that relatively greater psychopathology and history of TBI were significantly associated with more frequent warzone veteran IPV psychological perpetration. Further, relatively poorer post-deployment neurocognitive performance predicted higher subsequent psychological and physical IPV perpetration, adjusting for demographics, psychological health, and TBI. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of identifying both psychological/behavioral and neurocognitive correlates of IPV among warzone veterans. An integrative understanding of IPV risk can help inform both IPV prevention and treatment efforts for warzone veterans.Item Women’s Disengagement Behaviors During Couple Conflict: Investigating Risk Indicators of Intimate Partner Violence(Sage, 2023-04-09) Franz, Molly; Smethurst, Madeline; Barry, Robin A.; Cole, Hannah E.; Taft, Casey T.Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern, leading to prevention efforts focused on identifying risk indicators of escalating conflict between partners. Certain behaviors during conflict discussions have been uniquely linked to IPV, and there is evidence that disengagement behaviors—an emerging construct—are associated with IPV as well. However, research on disengagement and IPV has largely been limited to self-report, and available observational research is largely cross-sectional. Addressing these limitations, this study prospectively examined the association between observed disengagement behaviors during couple’s conflict discussions and IPV 1 year later, using a sample of 83 heterosexual married or cohabitating partners. Behavioral coding was used to assess each partner’s observed disengagement behaviors and each partner’s psychological and physical IPV was assessed via questionnaire 1 year later. Linear regressions were used to investigate links between indicators of engagement (i.e., listening, questions, eye contact) and psychological and physical IPV perpetration and victimization. Less question asking and higher eye contact by women were associated with greater psychological and physical IPV perpetrated by both women and men 1 year later. Lower listening behaviors by women were associated with greater psychological (but not physical) IPV perpetrated by men 1 year later. In contrast, no disengagement behaviors displayed by men were significantly related to IPV. Applying a latent change score framework using baseline IPV data, findings indicated replicability of results, though with less consistency, suggesting that women’s disengagement behaviors may reflect a larger pattern of abuse that predates and follows disengaged couple interactions. Findings suggest that a unique blend of verbal and nonverbal indicators of women’s disengagement during couple conflict provides a meaningful signal of the emotional climate of the relationship.