Trauma-Related Cognitions in Male Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence
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Date
2018-01-01
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Department
Psychology
Program
Psychology
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Access limited to the UMBC community. Item may possibly be obtained via Interlibrary Loan thorugh a local library, pending author/copyright holder's permission.
This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
Abstract
Objective: The current study aims to examine the mechanisms that explain the relationship between trauma and IPV perpetration. Using archival data from a community-based intimate partner violence (IPV) intervention program, the current study examines the role of three trauma-related cognitions (TRCs): self-esteem, mistrust, and power and control. Methods: During program intake, male IPV perpetrators (N = 195) provided structured interview data on demographics, traumatic experiences, trauma symptomology, relationship problems, relationship satisfaction and different forms of abuse including emotional, psychological and physical abuse. Two TRCs were created as amalgams of other items assessed during intake. Results: In the factor analyses, only the power and control composite had adequate unidimensionality. Trauma and PTSD symptoms were associated with TRCs. TRCs were associated with relationship quality and two forms of abuse (i.e. psychological aggression and emotional abuse); TRCs were not associated with physical assault. Moreover, standardized mediation models in PROCESS (Hayes, 2013) demonstrated that the power and control composite significantly mediated the association between trauma exposure and psychological aggression. Next, the power and control composite significantly mediated the association between trauma exposure and emotional abuse. Finally, the mistrust composite significantly mediated the relationship between PTSS and emotional abuse. Conclusion: Trauma-related cognitions may be important in understanding the relationship between trauma and IPV perpetration, and thus provide valuable targets for trauma-informed treatment of IPV perpetrators.