Two recent studies investigated the associations between experiencing maltreatment in childhood and dating aggression and interpersonal problems in young adult romantic relationships, with a focus on gender differences

Gowen, L. Kris

Kishna, Celina

PDXScholar (Portland State University)

Portland State UniversityPDXScholarSocial Work Faculty Publications and Presentations School of Social WorkSummer 2011Associations Between Childhood Maltreatment and Young AdultRomantic Relationships: A Focus on Gender DifferencesL. Kris GowenPortland State University, gowen@pdx.eduCelina KishnaPortland State UniversityLet us know how access to this document benefits you.Follow this and additional works at: http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/socwork_facPart of the Gender and Sexuality Commons, and the Social Work CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations by anauthorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, please contact pdxscholar@pdx.edu.Citation DetailsGowen, L.K., & Kishna, C. (2011). Associations Between Childhood Maltreatment and Young Adult Romantic Relationships: AFocus on Gender Differences. 25 (1). Focal Point: Youth, Young Adults, & Mental Health. Healthy Relationships, Summer 2011,pages 19-20.t wo recent studies investigated the associations between expe-riencing maltreatment in childhood and dating aggression and interpersonal problems in young adult romantic relationships, with a focus on gender differences. methoDSStudy 1: In order to examine the effects that interparental violence and childhood physical and emotional abuse have on physical aggression in undergraduate dating relationships, Milletich and colleagues used a sample of 658 participants between the ages of 18 and 30 recruited from a south-eastern Virginia university; 27% were male and 72% were female. Participants had never been married, were mostly heterosexual and had experienced one or more dating relationships. Data were col-lected via self-report surveys. Independent measures included retro-spective assessments of exposure to violence during childhood, both in terms of witnessing interparental violence and experiencing abuse. Dependent measures assessed participant dating aggression.Study 2: Paradis and Boucher investigated the associations be-tween childhood maltreatment and interpersonal problems in a sample of 1728 French Canadian University students. Most participants were Caucasian (92%) and female (81%); the average age of the males was 27 years (SD = 8.0), and 24 years (SD = 6.2) for the females. Few (7%) were married, and an additional 38% lived with a romantic partner. Seventy-five percent of all participants had been in their current relationship at least six months. Data were collected via self-report surveys. Independent measures included retrospective assessments of experiencing neglect and physical, emotional, and sexual abuse during childhood. Dependent variables were measured by the 64-item Inventory of Interpersonal Problems for Couples (IIP-C). Results from this study used the following four subscales of relationship patterns derived from the IIP-C: cold/distant (e.g., “It is hard for me to feel close to my partner”), self-sacrificing (e.g., “I try to please my partner too much”), domineering/controlling (e.g., “I am too aggressive toward my partner”), and nonassertive (e.g., “It is hard for me to tell my partner to stop bothering me”) (p. 146).For females, more physical abuse experience was associated with a threefold increased likelihood of  perpetrating physical aggression towards their dating partners. In contrast, males who reported childhood physical abuse and witnessed interparental violence were 3.5 times less likely than their female counterparts to report perpetration of  dating violence. data trends1. Milletich, R. J., Kelley, M. L., Do-ane, A. N., & Pearson, M. R. (2010). Exposure to interparental violence and childhood physical and emo-tional abuse as related to physical aggression in undergraduate re-lationships. Journal of Family Vio-lence, 25, 627-637.2. Paradis, A., & Boucher, S. (2010). Research on interpersonal problems and codependency: Child maltreat-ment history and interpersonal problems in adult couple relations. Journal of Aggression, Maltreat-ment & Trauma, 19, 138-158.SourceS 19focal pointAssociAtions Between childhood MAltreAtMent And Young Adult roMAntic relAtionships:A Focus on gender diFFerencesFocal Point: Youth, Young Adults, & Mental Health. Healthy Relationships, Summer 2011, 25(1)Regional Research Institute for Human Services, Portland State University. This article and others can be found at www.pathwaysrtc.pdx.edu. For permission to reproduce articles at no charge, please contact the publications coordinator at 503.725.4175; fax 503.725.4180 or email rtcpubs@pdx.edureSultSStudy 1: Milletech and colleagues found that reports of engaging in one or more physical aggression acts to-wards their partners were given by 16% of males and 40% of females. In the last year, 31% of men and 25% of women reported that they had been victimized by their romantic partners. Zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) regressions were used to identify gender differ-ences in the associations between childhood exposure to violence and dating aggression. For every one-unit increase in reported exposure to mother-to-father violence, females reported a one-unit increase in en-gaging in physical aggression toward their dating partners. Similarly, for ev-ery one-unit increase in reported ex-posure to father-to-mother violence, males reported a one-unit increase in physical aggression toward their dat-ing partners. For females, more physi-cal abuse experience was associated with a threefold increased likelihood of perpetrating physical aggression towards their dating partners. In con-trast, males who reported childhood physical abuse and witnessed inter-parental violence were 3.5 times less likely than their female counterparts to report perpetration of dating vio-lence. However, higher reported levels of childhood emotional abuse in males were associated a twofold increase in dating violence perpetration. Study 2: In Paradis and Boucher’s sample, 20% of males and 23% of fe-males had experienced at least one type of childhood trauma. Chi-squared analyses and t tests were used to as-sess the differences between males and females on the rates of different types of childhood trauma. Males re-ported more physical aggression than females, while females had increased reports of child sexual abuse. Two-way analyses of variance indicate that participants who experienced child-hood physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional ne-glect were more likely to report more interpersonal problems than those who did not experience childhood maltreatment. Stepwise regressions were used to examine gender differ-ences in the associations between experiences with child maltreatment and later interpersonal difficulties. For males, physical abuse significantly predicted the likelihood of being dom-ineering, distant, and self-sacrificing. Also for males, emotional neglect was significantly associated with being dis-tant and nonassertive. For females, emotional neglect was significantly as-sociated with being distant, nonassert-ive, and self-sacrificing, whereas emo-tional abuse significantly predicted the likelihood of being domineering and distant.concluSionThese two studies contribute to our understanding of the associations between child maltreatment and later romantic relationships in two impor-tant ways. First, these studies indi-cate that different types of exposure to violence (e.g., witnessing interpa-rental violence, physical abuse, and emotional abuse), are associated with different types of interpersonal prob-lems later in life. Additionally, there are gender differences between the associations of these different types of childhood traumas and young adult romantic relationships. For example, Milletech and colleagues found that for females, childhood experiences with physical abuse were predictive of perpetrating dating violence, whereas emotional abuse predicted perpetra-tion for males. Paradis and Boucher found slightly different patterns in how childhood maltreatment was associ-ated with the interpersonal difficulties of young adults. Limitations to these studies include that both samples were comprised of college students and relied on self-report measures. Additionally, child-hood maltreatment was measured retrospectively, and thus vulnerable to inaccurate recollections. Neverthe-less, these studies do offer findings that emphasize the importance of not only considering the impact a person’s childhood maltreatment may have on later romantic relationships, but also that these early experiences may in-fluence young men and women differ-ently. Understanding these patterns is essential to better provide tailored support for young adults as they enter into intimate relationships.authorSCelina Kishna is an undergraduate psychology student and a research in-tern for the Achieve My Plan study at Portland State University.L. Kris Gowen is Research Associate and Editor of Focal Point at Pathways to Positive Futures.20 focal pointFocal Point: Youth, Young Adults, & Mental Health. Healthy Relationships, Summer 2011, 25(1)Regional Research Institute for Human Services, Portland State University. This article and others can be found at www.pathwaysrtc.pdx.edu. For permission to reproduce articles at no charge, please contact the publications coordinator at 503.725.4175; fax 503.725.4180 or email rtcpubs@pdx.edu

Associations Between Childhood Maltreatment and Young Adult Romantic Relationships: A Focus on Gender Differences

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Associations Between Childhood Maltreatment and Young Adult Romantic Relationships: A Focus on Gender Differences

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