Citation

Ørke EC, Bjørkly S, Dufort M, Vatnar SKB. Violence Against Women 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077801220981157

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This cross-sectional study compared attachment characteristics among women victimized by intimate partner violence (IPV) in no, one, and multiple relationships (N = 154).

RESULTS indicated that compared with the nonvictimized, victimized women had increased likelihood of higher attachment avoidance. Compared with women victimized in one relationship, women victimized in multiple relationships had higher likelihood of higher attachment anxiety scores. Adjusting for childhood adversities, childhood sexual abuse was an independent risk factor for IPV. Childhood emotional abuse mediated the association between attachment anxiety and IPV victimization in multiple relationships in particular. Attachment theory appeared useful for better understanding women's vulnerability for multiple violent relationships.

Language: en

Keywords

attachment; childhood emotional abuse; intimate partner violence (IPV); multiple partners (MP)