Associations between attachment anxiety and intimate partner violence perpetration and victimization: Consideration of genetic covariation

Abstract

Adult attachment anxiety shows consistent and robust associations with intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and IPV victimization. Prior research, however, has not investigated whether this association would be robust to genetic covariation between the traits of interest. We expand the limited research regarding genetic influences on IPV by examining the extent to which accounting for potential genetic covariation between IPV and attachment anxiety can inform our understanding of both perpetration and victimization. Study 1 analyzed self-report data (n = 277), which included measures of romantic attachment and IPV perpetration and victimization. Study 2 employed simulation-based modeling procedures to estimate the extent to which genetic covariation can explain observed phenotypic associations between attachment anxiety and IPV. Study 1 demonstrated significant positive associations (βs = 0.20–0.30) between attachment anxiety (but not avoidance) and IPV perpetration and victimization. Models from Study 2 showed that genetic covariation has the potential to explain approximately 25% of the phenotypic association between attachment and IPV. Findings suggest that attachment anxiety is a robust predictor of both IPV perpetration and victimization. Future IPV research should consider both genetic and environmental mediation of the association between attachment anxiety and IPV outcomes.