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Gender Differences In The Relation Of Dyadic Types Of Partner Violence To Depression

Among University Students In 15 Nations

Murray A. Straus Family Research Laboratory, University of New HampshireDurham, NH 03824 603-862-2594 murray.straus@unh.edu

Website: http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2Zeev Winstok

Center for the Study of Society, University of Haifa,Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel

zeevwin@research.haifa.ac.il

• Presented at the Society For the Study Of Social Problems annual meeting, New York 8 August 2013. • This is one of a series reporting results of the International Parenting Study directed

by Angele Fauchier (angele.fauchier@unh.edu), and the Dyadic Types Research Program. Papers on these and related topics can be downloaded from http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2• The work was partly supported by National Institute of Mental Health grant

T32MH15161, the University of New Hampshire.

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Questions To Be Addressed1. What percent of university student couples in 15 nations experienced

violence in their relationships in the previous 12 months?2. Of those who experienced violence, what percent were in each of

three “Dyadic Types” (DTs): Male-Only, Female-Only, Both-Assaulted?

3. What is the relationship between violence in a relationship and depression and does this vary depending on:

A. Whether the partner was the victim or the aggressor, or both victim and aggressor?

B. Whether it is the male or female partner?Results are somewhat surprising4. What is a plausible theory to explain them?5. What are the implications for

A. Theories to explain PV?B. Methodology for research on PV?C. Efforts to prevent and treat PV?

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The International Parenting Study15 Nations, 11,408 university students

Analyses control for variables such as:• Age of student• Socially desirable responding• Parent’s education

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Table 1. International Parenting Study Sample Characteristics for 15 NationsRegion  Nation N % Female Mean Age

Total 11408 69.8% 21.07Asia TWN Taiwan 443 57.7% 20.19

HKG Hong Kong 473 66.6% 22.99Europe BEL Belgium 889 74.2% 19.76  GRC Greece 973 72.5% 20.89  ITA Italy 260 77.7% 21.82  POL Poland 378 50.9% 21.42  RUS Russia 173 54.0% 19.48  GBR Scotland 1122 67.2% 20.24  SVN Slovenia 189 86.2% 21.93  CHE Switzerland 196 95.3% 23.92  NOR Norway 533 72.5% 22.39  ESP Spain 106 89.3% 21.55Middle East  ISR Israel 366 60.9% 23.82N. America  CAN Canada 1586 74.7% 23.18  USA United States 3721 68.1% 20.28

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Measures

Partner violence: Short form of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales Straus, M. A., & Douglas, E. M. (2004). A short form of the

Revised Conflict Tactics Scales, and typologies for seventy andmutuality. Violence and Victims, 19, 507-520.

Cases will be analyzed by comparing “Dyadic Types” of partner violence

Depression: Major Depression InventoryOlsen, L. R., Jensen, D. V., Noerholm, V., Martiny, K., & Bech, P.

(2003). The internal and external validity of the Major Depression Inventory in measuring depressive states. Psychological Medicine, 33, 351-356.

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Data AnalysisAnalysis of covariance

Controlled for:• Education of father• Education of mother (are the results just a reflection of SES?• Misbehavior as a child (are results just a continuation of a long –standing pattern)• Corporal punishment by father As above• Corporal punishment by mother As above• Age of student at time of study (because older persons have lower crime rates• Limited Disclosure scale (do the results just reflect that willingness to disclose one

type of socially undesirable behavior is associated with willingness to disclose other types)• Nation in which data was collected There are important differences between

nations in the prevalence of crime. National differences in crime, include DT are analyzed elsewhere (cite??). The focus of this study is whether there are effects of DT that are in addition to the national context effects.

Dyadic Types (DTs)

Everyone Agrees On The Need To Take Into Account The Behavior Of Both Partners To Deal With Relationship Issues. But Few Do

DTs are a practical method of doing taking the behavior of both partners into account

Three DTs: * Male Partner Only * Female Partner Only * Both partners engage in the behavior

Practical because • DTs obtained by just cross tabulating the behavior of the male partner by that of the female partner• If the behavior is an interaction in which both participated, such

as violence, data obtained from just one of the partners, has the same validity (or lack of) as when both partners

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Dyadic Assault Types For Dating RelationshipsAmong 11,408 University Students in 15 Nations - Any Assault

Straus, M. A., & Winstok, Z. (2013). Gender Differences in the Relation Of Dyadic Types Of Partner Violence To Depression Among University students in 15 nations. Paper presented at the Society For The Study Of Social Problems Annual Meeting, New York.

10%

47%43%

Q 1. What percent of university student couples in 15 nations experienced violence in their relationships in previous 12 months?

Prevalence Men 14%Women 18%

Q 2 Of those who experienced violence, what percent were in each of three “Dyadic Types” (DTs):

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Male-Only Female-Only Both-Assault0

10

20

30

40

50

60

24 23

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Are These Percentages Unique To This Student Sample?U.S. National Comorbidity Study (N=8,098)*

%

* Kessler, R. C., Molnar, B. E., Feurer, I. D., & Appelbaum, M. (2001). Patterns and mental health predictors of domestic violence in the United States: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. International Journal Of Law And Psychiatry, 24(4-5), 487-508.

Predominant Pattern Is

Both-Violent

Male-Only and Female-Only about same %

Same pattern as in current study and in more than 50 studies** which found:

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Ada[ted from Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Selwyn, C., & Rohling, M. L. (2012). Rates of Bidirectional Versus Unidirectional Intimate Partner Violence Across Samples, Sexual Orientations, and Race/Ethnicities: A Comprehensive Review. Partner Abuse, 3(2), 199-230. doi: 10.1891/1946-6560.3.2.199

- 48 studies

Dyadic Types Can be Important For Understanding and TreatingAlmost All Types Of Relationship Behaviors

(Results for `14,282 University Student Dating Couples)_

Dyadic Type Gender of

Respondent% Male

Only% Female

Only 

% Both Any Assault Female 9 25 67 Severe Assault Female 16 31 53Any Injury-Perpetration Female 21.1 13.8 65.1Severe Injury-Perpetration Female 39 10 51 Any Psych Aggression Female 9 17 74 Severe Psych Aggression Female 13 31 55 Any Sexual Coercion Female 33 10 57 Verbal Sexual Coercion Female 44 9 47 Physical Sexual Coercion Female 43 15 43 Intransigent Female 13 9 78

Percentages are similar when based on reports by male students

Is the High Percent of Women Who Assault Self-defense?Studies on who hit first found it was female partner half the cases

Hamberger, 1997 77%Bland & Orn ,1986 73%Straus, 2012 61% Stets [, 1990 #4608] 58%DeMaris ,1992 49%Capaldi [, 2007 #11544] 46% the median %-Gryl, Stith, & Bird ,1991 41%Saunders ,1986 40%Fiebert, Gonzalez, 1997 32%Molidor & Tolman, ,1998 30% O’Keefe ,1997 21%

9 Studies which asked women whether it was in self-defense: • Median = 19%, range:5 to 47% • None of the studies found that a majority of women acted in self-defense• Almost half of the eleven comparisons found a higher percent of men than

women acting in self-defense

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Question 3. What is the relationship between violence in a relationship and depression and does this vary depending on:

A. Whether the partner was the victim or the aggressor, or both victim and aggressor?B. Whether it is the male or female partner?

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Relation of Dyadic Types Of Partner Violence To DepressionDating Relationships Of University Students In 15 Nations (N=11,408)

Women

Men

No Violence: Women higher in depression than menSole Perpetrator: Male perpetrators higher in depression than femaleSole Victim: Women victims higher in depression than male victimsBoth Assault, i.e. both are victims and also perpetrators: Men higher in depression

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Relation of Dyadic Types Of Partner Violence To DepressionDating Relationships Of University Students In 15 Nations (N=11,408)

Women

Men

When men assault, either as sole perpetrator or both, male depression higher. Suggests either depression as a cause or male guilt, or bothWomen have highest depression when they are the sole victims of assault or both a victim and a perpetratorGender Difference In link between PV and depression: Increase in depression is greater for men than women , except when men are the sole victims

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Summary Both-Assault Dyadic Type

• The most prevalent Dyadic Type of partner violence• Most closely associated with depression – not surprising

Both most harmful is consistent with other studies, including studies of harmful effects for children

Male-Only and Female-Only Dyadic Types• Also associated with more mental health problems than among

non-violent couples, but less so than the Both Assault DT.

Comparing the sole perpetrator with being the sole victim•Men are higher in depression when they are the sole

perpetrators than when they are the sole victims• Women are higher in depression when they are the sole

victims than when they are the sole perpetratorsWhat might explain these unexpected result?

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Question 4 . What is a plausible theory to explain the results?

The difference between men and women in the relation of partner violence to depression reflects differences in culturally and

biologically based gender rolesTwo relevant role differences are Greater saliency and importance of

Status maintenance and enhancement for menSafety for women

An underlying principle is that threat to central aspects of the self are associated with an increased probability of depression• For men, lost of status if their violence becomes known is a

bigger threat than lack of safety when they are victim of violence by their partner

• For women, lack of safety when they are attacked by their partner is bigger threat than loss of status if their violence becomes known.

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Paper On The Theory In Preparation

• Will explain the basis for believing the assumptions are valid., for example the link between threat to the self and depression

* Will provide specification of the theoretically based relationships

Winstok and Straus, “Gender Differences In Salience Of Status Enhancement and Safety In Relationships And Gender Differences In the Link Between Partner Violence and Depression

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Q 5 Implications For Theory, Methods, And Practice

TheoryExplanations of the causes or the effects of PV need to take into

account that studies world-wide found that Male-Only: about 25%

Female-Only: about 25%Both-Assault: about 50% of couples

Self-defense explains female violence only 10-20% of the time

MethodDTs need to be identify in all research on partner violenceNecessary and practical to obtain data on both partnersCan be done even when only one partner is the research participant

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Implications (continued)

PracticeBecause about half of all partner violence cases are in the “Both-

Assault” type, including women seeking help from shelters:

• Service providers need to determine which DT applies to a particular client and why•Determining the Dyadic type is second only to determining

safety

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Some References On Dyadic TypesLanghinrichsen-Rohling, J., Selwyn, C., & Rohling, M. L. (2012). Rates of Bidirectional Versus Unidirectional Intimate Partner Violence Across Samples, Sexual Orientations, and Race/Ethnicities: A

Comprehensive Review. Partner Abuse, 3(2), 199-230. doi: 10.1891/1946-6560.3.2.199Straus, M. A., & Michel-Smith, Y. (In press). Mutuality, Severity, And Chronicity Of Violence by Father-

Only, Mother-Only, And Mutually Violent Parents As Reported By University Students In 15 Nations. Child Abuse and Neglect.

Straus, M. A. (2013, April 25). Dyadic Aggression types: An Extremely simple and extremely powerful tool for research, Theory, prevention, & treatment of family violence that is practical for use by almost all researchers and clinicians. Paper presented at the Violence, Conflicts and Unity in Family Context: A Reappraisal of Therapeutic and Judicial Doctrines, University of Haifa.

Straus, M. A. (1992). Children as witnesses to marital violence: A risk factor for life long problems among a nationally representative sample of American men and women. In D. F. Schwartz (Ed.), Children and Violence: Report of the Twenty Third Ross Roundtable on Critical Approaches to Common Pediatric Problems (pp. 98-109). Columbus, Ohio: Ross Laboratories.

Straus, M. A. (2013). Dyadic Types in the PASK project. Partner Abuse, 4(2). Other References

Straus, M. A. (2004). Cross-cultural reliability and validity of the revised conflict tactics scales: A study of university student dating couples in 17 nations. Cross-Cultural Research, 38(4), 407-432.

Straus, M. A. (2009). The National context effect: An Empirical test of the validity of Cross-National research using unrepresentative samples. Cross-Cultural Research, 43(3), 183-205. doi:

10.1177/1069397109335770

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References On the Conflict Tactics ScalesStraus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D. B. (1996). The revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2): Development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17(3), 283-316. doi: 10.1177/019251396017003001Straus, M. A., & Douglas, E. M. (2004). A short form of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales, and typologies for seventy

and mutuality. Violence and Victims, 19, 507-520. Straus, M. A. (2004). Cross-cultural reliability and validity of the revised conflict tactics scales: A study of university

student dating couples in 17 nations. Cross-Cultural Research, 38(4), 407-432.Straus, M. A. (2012). Blaming the messenger for the bad news about partner violence by women: the Methodological,

theoretical, and value basis of the purported invalidity of the Conflict Tactics Scales. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 30(5), 538-556. doi: 10.1002/bsl.2023

Straus, M. A., & Mickey, E. L. (2012). Reliability, validity, and prevalence of partner violence measured by the conflict tactics scales in male-dominant nations. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17, 463-474. doi:

10.1016/j.avb.2012.06.004