Anger Management and the Process Mediating the Link Between Witnessing Violence Between Parents and Partner Violence

Abstract

Multinomial logistic regression was used on a sample of 14,252 students to determine the extent to which the relationship between witnessing interparental violence and the perpetration of violence is mediated by limited anger management ability, and to determine whether anger management is a mediator for women as well as men. Both males and females who witnessed interparental violence had higher levels of violence perpetration, and those who disclosed witnessing interparental violence had more limited anger management abilites. These limited anger management abilities were associated with increased levels of violence perpetration. This study is consistent with others finding a relationship between witnessing interparental violence and the perpetration of violence but also shows that the relationship between these two variables is mediated by limited anger management abilities.