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Articulated Thoughts of Intimate Partner Abusive Men during Anger Arousal: Correlates with Personality Disorder Features

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Abstract

This study extends Eckhardt et al. (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66:259–269, 1998) research on cognitive correlates of anger arousal among intimate partner abusers (IPA; n = 130), distressed/nonviolent (DNV; n = 27), and satisfied/nonviolent men (SNV; n = 21) during a standardized anger induction task by examining variables thought to differentiate batterers. Variables pertinent to the Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (Psychological Bulletin, 116:476–497, 1994) typology—borderline and antisocial personality, psychopathy, general violence, and partner violence—were correlated to articulated cognitive distortions. Since between group comparisons were not significant, articulated anger was correlated with antisocial, borderline, and psychopathic features. Borderline personality features correlated positively with articulations reflecting jealousy. Articulated themes were more consistently related to psychopathology than to violence, suggesting that tailoring treatments to personality features of clients may prove fruitful.

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Acknowledgment

This project was funded by Grant R03 MH066943-01A1 from the National Institutes of Health and by the University of Houston.

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Correspondence to Julia C. Babcock.

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Costa, D.M., Babcock, J.C. Articulated Thoughts of Intimate Partner Abusive Men during Anger Arousal: Correlates with Personality Disorder Features. J Fam Viol 23, 395–402 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-008-9163-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-008-9163-x

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