Differences among perpetrators of intimate partner violence utilizing proactive versus reactive aggression

This research aimed to categorize perpetrator’s aggression as reactive or proactive regarding intimate partner violence and explore the relationship with relevant variables. Victim statements in police reports of 60 predominantly Hispanic male adult perpetrators on probation in South Texas were rated, categorizing statements as reactive or proactive. It was hypothesized that more men would display reactive aggression and it would be associated with severe violence, emotion regulation difficulties, state anger, and impulsivity. The study further suggested that emotion regulation, state anger, and impulsivity would moderate the relationship between severity of violence and reactive/proactive classification, and impulsivity would mediate the relationship between state anger and reactive/proactive classification. Results showed 79% of perpetrators using reactive aggression and 21% using proactive aggression. Men with reactive aggression exhibited more severe violence, emotion regulation difficulties, impulsivity, and state anger. There were no moderation effects of study variables on severity of violence and reactive/proactive classification. Impulsivity fully mediated the relationship between state anger and reactive/proactive classification. Our results support approaches that emphasize reactive aggression in intimate partner violenceperpetration due to its frequency and potential recidivism effects. (AU)

Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo categorizar la agresión del maltratador como reactiva o proactiva en la violencia de pareja y explorar la relación con variables relevantes. Se clasificaron las declaraciones de las víctimas en los informes policiales de 60 hombres adultos agresores predominantemente hispanos en libertad condicional en el sur de Texas, categorizando las declaraciones como reactivas o proactivas. Se hipotetizó que más hombres mostrarían agresión reactiva y que estaría asociada con violencia grave, dificultades en la regulación emocional, ira-estado e impulsividad. El estudio sugirió además que la regulación emocional, la ira-estado y la impulsividad moderarían la relación entre la gravedad de la violencia y la clasificación reactiva/proactiva, y que la impulsividad mediaría la relación entre la ira-estado y la clasificación reactiva/proactiva. Los resultados mostraron que el 79% de los agresores utilizaban la agresión reactiva y el 21% la proactiva. Los hombres con agresión reactiva mostraban una violencia más grave, dificultades en la regulación emocional, impulsividad e ira-estado. No hubo efectos moderadores de las variables estudiadas sobre la gravedad de la violencia y la clasificación reactiva/proactiva. La impulsividad medió totalmente en la relación entre la ira-estado y la clasificación reactiva/proactiva. Nuestros resultados apoyan las perspectivas que enfatizan la agresión reactiva en la violencia en las relaciones de pareja debido a su frecuencia y potenciales efectos de reincidencia. (AU)

Is All Dating Violence Equal? Gender and Severity Differences in Predictors of Perpetration.

The present study assesses the extent of perpetration of physical violence in predominately Hispanic high school students in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas. The relationship between adverse childhood experiences, exposure to interparental violence, attachment, emotion regulation, and impulsivity on two distinct, mutually exclusive, categories of severity of physical teen dating violence (TDV) perpetration is further explored. Participants completed self-report measures as part of a larger, anonymous web-based questionnaire. Two categories (i.e., minor/moderate and severe) were created to discern the contextual variables associated with different levels of severity of physical violence perpetration by males and females. Eight-hundred and twenty-nine 14- to 18-year-old adolescents from four different high schools participated in the study, of whom 407 reported having been in a dating relationship in the last 12 months. The results demonstrate that when only the most severe item of TDV is taken into consideration, the rates of violence perpetration by males and females are almost equal and remarkably lower than those reported in the literature. However, when the assessment includes minor/moderate levels of violence, such as pushing, the rates of violence perpetration by females are twice those of males and are consistent with those reported in the literature. Furthermore, different variables are associated with different levels of severity of violence perpetration. The results support approaches that emphasize the need to take the context of the violence into consideration, since all levels are not equal. The need to take the severity of violence into account in studies assessing dating violence is highlighted.