Childhood Abuse, Emotion Regulation, Alcohol, and Dating Violence Victimization as Cross ...

117 Pages·2017·1.18 MB·English

Childhood Abuse, Emotion Regulation, Alcohol, and Dating Violence Victimization as
Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Predictors of Dating Violence Perpetration among
College Women

A thesis presented to
the faculty of
the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University

In partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
Master of Science

Ellen E. Haynes
April 2017
©2017 Ellen E. Haynes. All Rights Reserved.
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This thesis titled
Childhood Abuse, Emotion Regulation, Alcohol, and Dating Violence Victimization as
Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Predictors of Dating Violence Perpetration among
College Women

by
ELLEN E. HAYNES

has been approved for
the Department of Psychology
and the College of Arts and Sciences by

Ryan C. Shorey
Assistant Professor of Psychology

Robert Frank
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
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Abstract
HAYNES, ELLEN E., M.S., April 2017, Clinical Psychology
Childhood Abuse, Emotion Regulation, Alcohol, and Dating Violence Victimization as
Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Predictors of Dating Violence Perpetration among
College Women
Director of Thesis: Ryan C. Shorey
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
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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.
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Table of Contents
Page
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3
List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... 7
List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... 8
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 9
Female Perpetrated Dating Violence............................................................................. 10
Dating Violence Theoretical Considerations ................................................................ 11
Applying the Bell and Naugle and I3 Models to the Present Study .............................. 14
Childhood abuse and dating violence perpetration. ................................................... 14
Adult victimization and dating violence perpetration. .............................................. 14
Emotion regulation and dating violence perpetration. ............................................... 15
Alcohol use and dating violence perpetration. .......................................................... 16
The Proposed Model ..................................................................................................... 16
Childhood abuse, emotion regulation difficulties, and dating violence perpetration. 17
Alcohol, emotion regulation, and dating violence perpetration. ............................... 19
Adult dating violence victimization, emotion regulation, and dating violence
perpetration. ............................................................................................................... 21
Current Study ................................................................................................................ 22
Methods............................................................................................................................. 24
Procedure ....................................................................................................................... 24
Participants .................................................................................................................... 24
Measures........................................................................................................................ 25
Childhood abuse. ....................................................................................................... 26
Emotion regulation. ................................................................................................... 27
Alcohol use. ............................................................................................................... 27
Adult physical and sexual dating violence victimization and physical perpetration. 28
Adult psychological dating violence perpetration and victimization. ....................... 29
Integrity checks. ......................................................................................................... 30
Sample Size Determination ........................................................................................... 30
Data Analytic Plan ........................................................................................................ 31
Results ............................................................................................................................... 34
Descriptive Statistics ..................................................................................................... 34
Hypothesis 1 .................................................................................................................. 35
Hypothesis 2 .................................................................................................................. 36
Hypothesis 3 .................................................................................................................. 37
Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 39
Implications ................................................................................................................... 44
Limitations .................................................................................................................... 46
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 48
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References ......................................................................................................................... 50
Appendix A. Informed Consent ........................................................................................ 76
Appendix B. Debriefing Form .......................................................................................... 87
Appendix C. Demographics ............................................................................................. 89
Appendix D. Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ............................................................... 93
Appendix E. Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Questionnaire ...................................... 94
Appendix F. Alcohol Use Disorders Identifications Test ................................................. 96
Appendix G. Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse ........................................ 98
Appendix H. Revised Conflicts Tactics Scale ............................................................... 102
Appendix I. Additional Information Regarding Study Measures ................................... 103
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List of Tables
Page
Table 1 Correlations, means, and standard deviations among study variables .............63
Table 2 Differences among attrition groups on study variables ....................................64
Table 3 Model fit indices for longitudinal models ........................................................65
Table 4 Standardized Path Coefficients for Model 1 .....................................................66
Table 5 Standardized Path Coefficients for Model 3a…. ..............................................67
Table 6 Standardized Path Coefficients for Model 4a ...................................................68
Table 7 Standardized Path Coefficients for Model 3b ...................................................69
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List of Figures
Page
Figure 1. Bell & Naugle’s proposed theoretical framework for IPV with predictors of
interest in red..................................................................................................................... 70
Figure 2. Proposed model with cross-section data............................................................ 71
Figure 3. Proposed model with longitudinal data. ............................................................ 72
Figure 4. Model 1 with significant associations highlighted in red. ................................. 73
Figure 5. Model 3a with significant associations highlighted in red. ............................... 74
Figure 6. Model 3b with significant associations highlighted in red ................................ 75
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Introduction
Physical (e.g. hitting, kicking, slapping one’s partner) and psychological dating
violence (e.g., insulting or threatening one’s partner) are perpetrated by women at
alarming rates on college campuses. As gleaned from literature, utilizing primarily self-
report data , upwards of 25% of women perpetrate physical violence and upwards of 80%
of college women perpetrate psychological aggression annually (Dardis, Dixon, Edwards,
& Turchik, 2015; Grover et al., 2008; Shorey, Cornelius, & Bell, 2008). Although female
victims of dating violence often experience more severe injuries and mental health
problems from male-perpetrated dating violence (Archer, 2000; Caldwell, Swan, &
Woodbrown, 2012), male victims of female-perpetrated dating violence also experience
serious negative consequences due to their victimization (e.g., Hines, 2007; Prospero,
2007). Despite the alarming prevalence of female-perpetrated dating violence, there has
been a lack of longitudinal research on risk factors for dating violence perpetration by
college women.
One well established predictor of female perpetrated physical and psychological
dating violence is a history of childhood abuse, past dating violence victimization, or
both (e.g. Busby, Holman, & Walker, 2008; Edwards, Desai, Gidycz, & VanWynsberghe,
2011). Additionally, research indicates that childhood abuse contributes to emotion
regulation difficulties (Thompson, Hannan, & Miron, 2014), that emotion regulation
difficulties are associated with female perpetrated dating violence (Ortiz, Shorey, &
Cornelius, 2015), and that emotion regulation difficulties mediate the association between
childhood abuse and female-perpetrated dating violence in cross-sectional research (e.g.,
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Lilly & Mercer, 2014). Research also shows that alcohol use increases the odds of dating
violence perpetration by college women (Shorey, Stuart, Moore, & McNulty, 2014).
Some research implies that individuals with difficulty regulating emotions may be more
susceptible to perpetrating dating violence when under the influence of alcohol (Shorey et
al., 2014). Theoretically, since the presence of multiple risk factors can yield more
deleterious effects than a single risk factor (Finkel & Eckhart, 2013), both alcohol use
and prior adult dating violence victimization may serve as moderators of the relationship
between emotion regulation and physical and psychological dating violence perpetration.
Thus, in a sample of college women, the present thesis cross-sectionally and
longitudinally examined (1) whether emotion regulation mediated the association
between childhood abuse and dating violence perpetration and (2) whether alcohol use
and prior adult victimization moderated the mediated path of emotion regulation to dating
violence perpetration.
Female Perpetrated Dating Violence
Psychological dating violence encompasses a range of behaviors that span from
mildly coercive actions to a consistent pattern of coercive domination and control over
one’s partner (Murphy & Hoover, 1999). Examples of psychological aggression include
put downs, belittling, and intimidation (Murphy & Hoover, 1999). Physical dating
violence includes behaviors such as hitting, kicking, or slapping one’s partner, attacking
one’s partner with an object or weapon, or burning one’s partner (Straus et al., 1996).
Although psychological aggression perpetration is highly correlated with physical
aggression (Baker & Stith, 2008), it also occurs alone and at much higher rates than