1. Childhood Abuse, Emotion Regulation, Alcohol, and Dating Violence Victimization as Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Predictors of Dating Violence Perpetration among College Women
- Author
-
Haynes, Ellen E.
- Subjects
- Clinical Psychology, childhood abuse, dating violence, emotion regulation, alcohol use
- Abstract
Physical and psychological dating violence is perpetrated by women at high rates on college campuses. Several risk factors have been identified that are associated with an increased risk of female-perpetrated dating violence, including a history of physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse in childhood. Moreover, some research suggests that childhood abuse increases difficulties in emotion regulation, and these difficulties may be associated with a higher risk of perpetrating dating violence. Lastly, alcohol use and women’s psychological, physical, and sexual dating violence victimization in adulthood are consistent predictors of women’s dating violence perpetration. Using Bell and Naugle’s (2008) contextual framework of IPV and Finkel’s (2007) I3 model of combined risk factors as a guide, the present thesis examined a cross-sectional and longitudinal contextual model of women’s dating violence. Specifically, I examined emotion regulation as a mediator of the relationship between physical, sexual, and emotional childhood abuse history and physical and psychological dating violence perpetration, and examined alcohol use and adult dating violence victimization as moderators of this mediated path. Participants included 488 undergraduate women in dating relationships who completed online surveys at two time points separated by three months. Analyses provided partial support for the hypotheses, such that emotion regulation mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and dating violence perpetration cross-sectionally, but not longitudinally. Analyses yielded no significant moderated mediated paths. Results provide support for the role of emotion regulation in women’s dating violence perpetration. Implications for future research are discussed.
- Published
- 2017