Predicting violence in romantic relationships during adolescence and emerging adulthood: A critical review of the mechanisms by which familial and peer influences operate

Abstract

For three decades, researchers have sought to gain a greater understanding of the developmental antecedents to later perpetration or victimization of violence in romantic relationships. Whereas the majority of early studies focused on family-of-origin factors, attention in recent years has turned to additional ecologies such as peer relationships. This review highlights accomplishments of both family and peer studies that focus on violent romantic relationships in an effort to summarize the current state of knowledge. Attention is given to epidemiology and developmental family and peer factors, with special attention given to mechanisms that mediate and/or moderate the relation between family and peer factors and later participation in violent relationships. A critical approach is taken throughout the review in order to identify limitations of previous studies, and to highlight key findings. A case is made for viewing these developmental antecedents as a result of multiple developmental ecologies that is perhaps best summarized as a culture of violence.

Introduction

It is an unfortunate truth that physical aggression is a relatively common occurrence in romantic relationships (Linder and Collins, 2005, Sugarman and Hotaling, 1989a, White and Koss, 1991). America expends a great deal of its resources and energy on reacting to instances of violence in romantic relationships in the form of legal, medical, spiritual, and psychological assistance. Accordingly, much research has been conducted to examine how professionals can react to elicit the best possible outcomes for those affected by this problem. Though it is certainly appropriate to investigate how best to treat these situations, it is also important to explore the developmental factors and mechanisms that predict both victimization and perpetration of violence in romantic relationships. By understanding the developmental pathways in which people become participants in violent relationships, preventative steps can be taken to promote alternative developmental outcomes and treatment efforts can be designed to target individuals' modifiable risk factors associated with these pathways.

In many ways, the empirical examination concerned with developmental trajectories predicting physical relationship violence began with the “intergenerational transmission of violence” hypothesis (ITV), sometimes termed the “cycle of violence” or “violence begets violence” hypothesis, as argued by Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz (1980). These researchers postulated that children who are either victims of physical abuse from parents, or who witness violence between their parents, are at increased risk for becoming physically abusive in their adult relationships. Nearly three decades later, a great deal of research has been conducted to examine a variety of factors in family relationships that predict violence in adult relationships. During this time, researchers have also begun to examine how children's peer relationships contribute to this developmental concern. In this area, many discoveries have been made which have important developmental implications. For example, male adolescents who have male friends with aggressive attitudes towards women are at increased risk of becoming perpetrators of violence in their romantic relationships (Capaldi, Dishion, Stoolmiller, & Yoerger, 2001). More recently, researchers have begun to co-examine family and peer predictors of violence in romantic relationships (e.g., Linder & Collins, 2005). By taking this critical integrative step, a more detailed and informative developmental picture has begun to emerge. It is becoming clear that many of the factors (both family and peer) that predict violence within romantic relationships exhibit their influence through common mediating factors.

The purpose of this review is to summarize literature on the cognitive, behavioral, and affective mechanisms that mediate the relation between family and peer risk factors and victimization or perpetration of physical aggression within romantic relationships. This work was informed by a model of dating violence developed by Riggs and O'Leary (1989). These researchers differentiated two distinct categories of interest for domestic violence research: contextual and situational variables. Contextual variables are described as distal factors that predict later violence (e.g., violence within the family-of-origin), whereas situational variables are those that predict the situations in which aggression might occur (e.g., episodes of relationship conflict). The current work is meant to focus primarily on contextual variables, though considerable conceptual overlap exists between the two categories and this is reflected in the current paper. Additional influence was derived from ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), as the present review was meant to be an analysis of the impact of two forms of microsystem influences (i.e., family and peers) on this critical aspect of children's long-term developmental outcomes.

The conceptual model guiding the review is presented in Fig. 1. As shown, family and peer related risk factors are hypothesized to impact physical aggression in romantic relationships through their effects on individual characteristics of children. The primary focus of the present review is on studies that examine cognitive, behavioral, and affective meditating and moderating mechanisms that explain the relation between family and peer predictors and later physical relationship violence. Prior to examining literature related to the conceptual model, prevalence rates of physical relationship violence will be examined. Literature on the relation of both family and peer factors to physical aggression in romantic relationships will be considered prior to exploration of mediating factors that explain these associations. In this review, attention will be given to theoretical models that have been used in the study of physical violence in romantic relationships. This review will be limited to studies that examine physical aggression within all forms of heterosexual romantic relationships between the ages of 16 and 23 years as the dependent measure. Throughout the review, attention will be given to evaluate the methodological strengths and limitations of research in this area.