Citation

Hughes HM, Massura CE, Anukem OV, Cattage JS. J. Fam. Violence 2016; 31(2): 239-249.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10896-015-9758-y

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Dating violence frequently occurs within women college students' relationships, but few examinations of their reasons for engaging in psychological aggression have been conducted. Accordingly, the current study investigated psychological aggression initiated by women undergraduates against their male partners using a qualitative methodology. Overall, 72 of the 206 participants responded to an open-ended question examining their reasons for initiating psychological aggression. Six domains of reasons were identified; the two most frequently reported precipitants were negative affect and a partner's transgression. One domain, "self-soothing," (i.e., aggressing to help oneself feel better) had not been observed in studies of women's initiation of physical aggression. These reasons could be targeted in prevention and intervention programs for reducing dating aggression among undergraduates.

Language: en