The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among several demographic and emotional/relational variables, and physical abuse victimization in conjugal relations. Participants were eighty-two individuals, involving 41 heterosexual couples in permanent relationships, who were being seen in marital therapy for discordant relationships. This was a cross-sectional sample, with participants selected from four community-based couple and family therapy treatment facilities. Couple participants completed a questionnaire package which measured their standing on a number of socio-demographic (age, income, duration of marriage, employment, education), emotional/relationship (attachment, differentiation, self esteem, marital satisfaction, global distress, problem solving communication), and violence (aggression, physical and non-physical abuse) variables. The emotional variables selected for this study drew on principles from both attachment and Bowen family systems theory. The design of this study differentiated victims of physical violence from non-victims of violence and included multiple measures of abuse. / The findings revealed significant gender correlations in terms of level of aggression in relationships. For females, level of global distress and problem solving communication were positively associated with higher levels of marital aggression. An association between poor differentiation and marital aggression was identified for females, while self esteem only approached significance. For males, a significant correlation was identified between level of aggression and the dismissing attachment style. For males the anxious attachment style was negatively correlated with being a victim of physical violence, with self-differentiation and with having a dismissive attachment style. / The central findings were identified through the use of logistic regression analysis. Attachment style was found to be the more powerful predictor for both females and males in predicting victimization of physical violence. Separate gender analysis revealed evidence that women's anxious attachment style is a significant predictor of physical violence victimization. For males, the dismissing style was less powerful a predictor of male victimization, however the combined female-anxious, male-dismissing attachment combination was found to be highly predictive of relationship violence. Logistic regression has provided evidence for the combination of female-anxious and male-dismissing attachment pattern with poor problem solving and communication skill, within the context of a longer relationship, as significant predictors of relationship violence for the whole sample. These three variables, anxious-dismissing attachment style, poor problem solving communication and longer duration of marriage taken together have provided a predictor model or couple profile for conjugal violence in a sample of discordant couples. / Results of the final couple analysis have contributed to an emerging hypothesis, with the identification of a particular "toxic" gender defined couple attachment pattern, that can predispose a couple for relationship violence. Results have identified that anxious females coupled with dismissing males significantly increased the odds of relationship violence. Research findings were discussed in terms of clinical applications and implications for theory and future research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.84479 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Blumstein-Bond, Sharon |
| Contributors | Trute, Barry (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (School of Social Work.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002095167, proquestno: AAINQ98212, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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