1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«We were therefore interested in studying the ways in which CSA [child sexual abuse] predicts both forms of IPV [intimate partner violence] in a large sample of men seeking treatment for relationship difficulties and aggressive behavior. The goal of our study was to test a model in which CSA predicts IPV through attachment insecurity and anger regulation.» (p. 688)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«It was proposed that CSA would lead to attachment insecurities (avoidance and anxiety), which in turn would contribute to poorer anger regulation (trait anger, anger-in, anger-out, and poor anger control), which would contribute to the perpetration of IPV (both physical and psychological).» (p. 688)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The participants were 302 men with an average age of 35 years (SD = 10.9) who were undergoing counseling at a facility offering individual treatment for relationship difficulties or the management of aggression. The majority of the men were seeking help for aggression-related problems (74.5%), relationship conflict (15.2%), or responding to court orders (15.2%). Regarding couple status, 14.2% were married, 35.5% were cohabiting, 18.6% were dating, 10.8% were separated or divorced, and 20.9% were single but had been in a romantic relationship during the last year.» (p. 689)

Instruments :
- Experiences in Close Relationships measure
- Inventory of Anger Experiences in Couples
- Revised Conflict Tactics Scales
- Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«As hypothesized, our results showed that men who have been sexually abused during childhood reported higher attachment anxiety, suggesting that they feel insecure about their lovability and worth to relationship partners, as previously suggested by Lisak (1994) and Finkelhor (2008) and easily become angry about perceived slights, leading at times to aggression. Contrary to our expectations, however, CSA did not predict attachment related avoidance. […] We found that CSA indirectly predicted psychological and physical aggression through attachment anxiety, which in turn was associated with IPV directly and through four anger-related variables: (a) a general propensity to perceive situations as frustrating or unfair (trait anger); (b) a tendency to repress, ignore, or minimize anger feelings (anger-in, which was a mediator for psychological, but not physical, aggression); (c) nonoptimal, relationship-damaging ways of expressing anger (anger-out); and (d) poor control or regulation of anger.» (p. 697-698)