Citation

Walling SM, Meehan JC, Marshall AD, Holtzworth-Munroe A, Taft CT. J. Marital Fam. Ther. 2012; 38(3): 471-485.

Affiliation

Fresno Pacific University Indiana University Pennsylvania State University Indiana University National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, and Boston University School of Medicine.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1752-0606.2011.00226.x

PMID

22804466

Abstract

Measures of head injury, executive functioning, and intelligence were given to a community sample composed of 102 male perpetrators of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and 62 nonaggressive men. A history of head injury and lower mean score on a measure of verbal intelligence were associated with the frequency of male-perpetrated physical IPA as reported by male perpetrators and their female partners. Lower mean scores on a measure of verbal intelligence also predicted frequency of psychological IPA perpetration. Using the perpetrator subtypes outlined by Holtzworth-Munroe et al. (2000), analyses revealed that compared with other groups, the most severely aggressive subtypes (i.e., borderline-dysphoric and generally violent-antisocial) were the most likely to report a history of head injury and to have significantly lower mean scores on a neuropsychological test of verbal intelligence. The possible role of neuropsychological factors in IPA perpetration and implications for prevention and intervention programs are discussed.

Language: en