Early exposure to violence, relationship violence, and relationship satisfaction in adolescents and emerging adults: The role of romantic attachment.

Abstract

Violence in romantic relationships is highly prevalent in adolescence and early adulthood and is related to a wide array of negative outcomes. Although the scientific literature increasingly highlights potential risk factors for the perpetration of violence toward a romantic partner, integrative models of these predictors remain scarce. Using an attachment framework, the current study examines the associations between early exposure to violence, perpetration of relationship violence, and relationship satisfaction. We hypothesized that exposure to family violence fosters the development of attachment anxiety and avoidance, which in turn are related to relationship violence and low relationship satisfaction. At Time 1, a sample of 1,252 (72.3% women) adolescents and emerging adults were recruited from high schools and colleges. Participants completed measures of exposure to family violence, attachment, perpetrated relationship violence and relationship adjustment. Three years later (Time 2), 234 of these participants agreed to participate in a follow-up assessment. Structural equation modeling was used to test cross-sectional and longitudinal models. The findings suggest that exposure to family violence predicts relationship violence both directly and indirectly through attachment anxiety, whereas attachment avoidance and relationship violence are predictors of relationship satisfaction. Longitudinal analyses also show that changes in romantic attachment are associated with changes in relationship violence and satisfaction. Romantic attachment is a significant target for the prevention and treatment of violence in intimate relationships involving adolescents or emerging adults. (PsycINFO Database Record