Poor Parenting, Attachment Style, and Dating Violence Perpetration Among College Students.

Although dating violence is prevalent among college students, little is known about how both attachment style and participation in risky behaviors contribute to this pattern of violence. To address this literature gap, we examine the role of poor parenting, child abuse, attachment style, and risky sexual and drug use behaviors on dating violence perpetration among 1,432 college students (51% female). Path analysis results revealed that females were more likely to report greater attachment anxiety but lower attachment avoidance compared with males. Correlates of attachment anxiety included child physical abuse, witnessing parental violence, and poorer maternal relationship quality whereas attachment avoidant behavior was linked to more physical abuse and poorer maternal relationship quality. Females were more likely to perpetrate dating violence as were those with greater attachment anxiety and lower attachment avoidance. Other correlates of dating violence perpetration included sexual and drug risk behaviors. Finally, distal factors (i.e., more child physical abuse and poorer maternal relationship quality) also were associated with dating violence perpetration. Study implications are also discussed.

Toward a Comprehensive Model of Physical Dating Violence Perpetration and Victimization.

Though physical dating violence is prevalent among college students, the literature remains disjointed due to the number of studies that are a theoretical. As such, we examine physical dating violence perpetration and victimization informed by three theories: the background-situational model of dating violence, social learning theory, and attachment theory. Results revealed that gender, child abuse, styles of attachment, and risky behaviors were associated with both perpetrating and being a victim of physical dating violence. Protective factors, including maternal relationship quality and religiosity, were associated with a lower risk of perpetrating dating violence. Analyses demonstrate that some elements of all three theoretical perspectives were associated with dating violence perpetration and victimization. Implications of the study findings on practice and future research are discussed.