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The problem of domestic violence is widespread, with research indicating men and women both perpetrate a substantial amount of aggression. However, aggression perpetrated by women is a relatively understudied area compared to aggression perpetrated by men. Additionally, research is needed to determine the correlates of aggression perpetration among women, as this can inform more effective treatment programs. Thus, the current study sought to examine the association between trait anger and impulsivity and the perpetration of physical and psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) and general aggression among women arrested for domestic violence (N = 80). Findings indicated that both trait anger and impulsivity were significantly associated with aggression perpetration and trait anger mediated the relationship between impulsivity and aggression perpetration. Directions for future research and violence intervention programs are discussed.

In recent years, there has been increased research focus on dating violence, producing important information for reducing these violent relationships. Yet Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are often hesitant to approve research on dating violence, citing emotional distress of participants as a possible risk of participation. However, no known research has examined the reactions of research participants to questions about dating violence. The current study examined the reactions among college students to completing a self-report measure on dating violence. Results showed that participants reported numerous positive experiences as a result of their research participation, with only mildly increased negative emotional reactions evident for some. Findings are discussed in relation to IRB proposals and appropriate informed consent for research participants.

Social support is typically thought to protect people from bad events, whereas capitalization support augments people's reactions to good events. Because social support and capitalization support apply to different classes of events, most theory predicts that measures of perceived support and capitalization support should be empirically distinct. We tested a new theory that hypothesizes that the main effects between perceived support and mental health do not reflect stress and coping primarily, but instead reflect ordinary, yet affectively consequential conversations and shared activities, some of which include positive events. According to this view, perceived support and capitalization support should be substantially correlated, should have similar links to other constructs, and their links to favorable affect should overlap, yet not be completely redundant. In three samples, results were consistent with the new theory, when correlations reflected social influences. When correlations reflected trait influences, perceived and capitalization support showed greater overlap.

The current study examined the moderating role of shame proneness on the association between physical, psychological, and sexual intimate partner violence victimization and depressive and anxious symptoms among male and female college students (N = 967). Students completed self-report measures of dating violence, depression, anxiety, and shame proneness. Results showed that shame proneness moderated the association between all forms of victimization and mental health symptoms. A three-way interaction revealed that sexual victimization predicted symptoms of anxiety to a greater extent for men than for women at high levels of shame proneness. Furthermore, results showed that gender moderated the association between physical and psychological victimization and health outcomes, such that victimization was related to increased depressive and anxious symptoms for men but not for women. Interpretations of these findings are discussed in relation to violence interventions, including primary prevention, and men's health.

Recent research has demonstrated the devastating impact of female-perpetrated psychological aggression in intimate relationships broadly and dating relationships specifically. With the perpetration of psychological aggression in dating relationships occurring at shockingly high rates, prevention programming for dating violence should target this form of aggression. Toward this end, it is important to understand the antecedent conditions that increase one's risk for perpetrating psychological aggression. This study sought to examine two possible risk factors for perpetrating psychological aggression among female undergraduates (N = 145), namely, emotion regulation and trait anger. Findings showed that difficulties with emotion regulation and trait anger were associated with increased psychological aggression perpetration, and trait anger mediated the link between emotion regulation and psychological aggression. Implications of these findings for prevention programming and future research are discussed.

Previous research has suggested that the occurrence of dating violence is influenced by various motivations, including self-defense. While some data have suggested that females are more likely to use physical aggression in self-defense, assessment measures of self-defense have been limited in several notable ways, hindering efforts at fully understanding the myriad of reasons contributing to self-defensive aggression. The current study sought to examine motivations for physical aggression among male and female college students using a contextual self-report measure of self-defensive aggression designed specifically for the current study. Results showed that numerous motivations for physical aggression were endorsed by both males and females and, contrary to expectations, females were not more likely to use aggression in self-defense. Implications of these findings for future research and dating violence prevention programming are discussed.