Citation

Miles-McLean HA, Lamotte AD, Murphy CM. Psychol. Violence 2021; 11(3): 329-338.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/vio0000372

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Social learning models of intimate partner violence (IPV) suggest that perpetration is associated with a tendency to anticipate more positive, and fewer negative, outcomes of abusive behaviors. However, relatively little research has examined perpetrators' beliefs about the effects of engaging in IPV. The Outcome Expectancies of Partner Abuse (OEPA) scale (Meis et al., Assessment, 2010, 17, 30) was developed to assess positive and negative anticipated outcomes of engaging in IPV. The present study sought to confirm the OEPA factor structure, examine its associations with a range of clinically important variables, and highlight the potential implications for abuse interventions.

METHOD: Participants were men presenting for treatment at a community abuse intervention program (N = 305). We conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the OEPA and correlated participants' ratings of positive and negative outcome expectancies with measures of emotion regulation, mental health, relationship functioning and abusive behavior, IPV attitudes, and criminal charges.

RESULTS: CFA supported the 22-item, two-factor structure of the OEPA. Positive outcome expectancies were associated with higher IPV perpetration, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, anger expression, emotion dysregulation, more prior arrests for partner abuse, and lower readiness to change. Negative outcome expectancies, in contrast, were associated with higher emotional awareness, negative IPV reactions, and readiness to change.

CONCLUSIONS: The OEPA has a clear two-factor structure and reliably assesses both positive and negative outcome expectancies. Positive expectancies regarding the effects of abuse, in particular, are linked to greater IPV perpetration and clinical problems that predict poorer response to IPV treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Language: en