Elsevier

Mental Health & Prevention

Volume 3, Issue 4, December 2015, Pages 135-142
Mental Health & Prevention

The dark side of romantic relationships: Aggression in adolescent couples and links to attachment

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2015.05.004Get rights and content

Abstract

This study focuses on romantic relationships from the perspective of both partners. This dyadic approach was chosen to account for the fact that both partners may differently contribute to the escalation of aggression. In a sample of 194 romantic partner dyads, differences between female and male partners׳ reports of aggression (relational and physical) and measures of attachment security and jealousy were assessed. A hierarchical cluster analysis identified five distinct subgroups of dyads with mutually aggressive or one-sided aggressive dyad. Of note were dyads with aggressive females and self-silencing males. The mutually aggressive couples showed the least adaptive relationship functioning with a lack of secure, trusting relationship qualities and high jealousy. The discussion focuses on the formative character of aggression in these early romantic relations, and the gender-specific functions of aggression in one-sided aggressive dyads.

Introduction

Although many romantic partnerships formed during adolescence dissolve (Sprecher & Fehr, 1998), patterns of interactions in these early couples may have implications for other longer-lasting relationships later in emerging adulthood as well as for later interactions within the same relationship. For example, physical aggression is relatively stable over time within adolescents׳ romantic relationships (O׳Leary & Slep, 2003) as well as in adults׳ marital relationships (O’Leary et al., 1989). The present study was designed to shed light on how negative features of romantic relationships such as physical and relational aggression are related to other aspects of relationship functioning, such as attachment and jealousy from the perspectives of both partners.

There is an extensive and informative body of research that has focused on physical aggression and violence within adolescents׳ romantic relationships (Connolly et al., 2010, Herrera et al., 2008). Physical aggression is the intentional use of physical force that could hurt the partner and includes mildly aggressive behavior such as pushing, shoving, or scratching as well as severe violent behaviors such as choking, shaking, slapping, or attacking with weapons. When dating aggression was examined in the context of the same dating relationships, 15% of the girls and 8% of the boys were persistently aggressive with the same partner (O׳Leary & Slep, 2003).

Other forms of aggression encompass relational aggression, for example, name calling, verbal attacks, defamatory gossip, exclusion, subtle flirting with another partner in an effort to elicit jealousy, and threatening to end the relationship. Compared to the large body of research on physical aggression, research on relational aggression in romantic relationships has been relatively scant (Williams, Connolly, Pepler, Craig, & Laporte, 2008). Relationship aggression seem to be especially salient for females. Females, as compared to males, are more bothered by relational aggression, perceive it to have a greater impact, and spend more time thinking about and discussing it, and, when they are aggressive themselves, tend to use relational aggression (Salmivalli & Kaukiainen, 2004). Both forms of aggression in romantic relationships are associated with psychosocial maladjustment, depression, and lower levels of relationship quality (Goldstein and Tisak, 2004, Landbeater et al., 2008, Welsh et al., 2003). Physical aggression, in particular, is related it to externalizing problem behavior, depression, and drug and alcohol use (Jouriles et al., 2009, van Dulmen et al., 2008) as well as relationship deterioration and break-ups (Sprecher & Fehr, 1998).

Romantic relationships build on earlier relationship experiences; working models of attachment originally developed for parent-child relationships are often applied to romantic partnerships (Furman & Simon, 2006). Accordingly, in romantic relationships, secure individuals are comfortable being intimate and are able to turn to and effectively use partners for support. The preoccupied or ambivalent pattern is characterized by a lack of trust in the availability of the partner and fear of rejection; these individuals were very preoccupied with the relationship. Individuals showing the dismissing pattern are uncomfortable about being close to and dependent upon their partners. Finally, individuals with a fearful pattern have a lack of trust and fear rejection and abandonment. However, unlike preoccupied individuals, they avoid turning to their partners for support and intimacy.

Similarly, an individual׳s propensity to be jealous in close relationships can put him or her at risk for aggressive behavior. In young adult couples, high scores in jealousy are associated with a variety of types of aggression (Goldstein, Chezir-Teran & McFaul 2008). From a developmental perspective, midadolescent romantic relationships can be characterized as being in the affection phase (Brown, 1999), where exclusivity of the couple, high affection, and idealization are typical. During this phase, jealousy may be particular high, and the risk for experiencing relational and physical aggression potentially greater than in earlier or later phases of couple formation (Puente & Cohen, 2003).

Because aggressive interactions unfold in a dyadic context and involve perpetrators as well as victims, our study sets out to examine the links between aggressive interactions and relationship functioning in adolescent couples from the perspectives of both partners. We want to identify distinct subgroups of couples based on dyadic reports of physical and relational aggression and to explore differences in dyadic relationship functioning in these subgroups.

For our study, we selected midadolescent couples, as they are in a formative phase of romantic development where relationships become more enduring and intimate (Brown, 1999). Despite this positive development, romantic preoccupation, and jealousy are high, compared late adolescent couples.

The first aim of our study was to examine the quality of romantic relationships in adolescent couples. We anticipated that males׳ and females׳ romantic relationships would be characterized by a beginning attachment. In accordance with other studies (Buunk, 1991), we also expected jealousy to be high, as the relationship is still fragile and break-ups may occur, even in the same relationship (e.g., on-off relationships, Collins, Welsh, & Furman, 2009).

The second aim of the study was to identify constellations of romantic partner dyads with distinct patterns of relational and physical aggression. We chose a dyadic approach to account for the fact that both partners may differently contribute to the escalation of aggression. We expected to identify a substantial proportion of dyads in which both partners reported low levels of relational and physical aggression. In contrast, we did not expect to find many dyads in which both partners exhibited high levels of relational and physical aggression, as we anticipated that such relationships would be prone to dissolution (Sprecher & Fehr, 1998). As can be found in the literature on battering in adult couples, (O’Leary et al., 1989), we also expect one-sided aggression, with males being the aggressor and female the victim in adolescent romantic relationships.

Finally, we also wanted to know if mutually aggressive or one-sided aggressive dyads differed with respect to relationship functioning. In general, we expected that dyads with both partners reporting low levels of aggression would demonstrate better relationship functioning (e.g., a more secure relationship quality) than would dyads with both partners reporting high levels of physical or relational aggression. In accordance with the literature (Campbell. et al., 2005, Knobloch et al., 2001), we anticipated that couples reporting high mutual aggression would be characterized by greater preoccupation with the partner, more jealousy, and more anxious and fearful attachment patterns. Due to the scarcity of research using dyadic reports, it was not possible to put forth clear hypotheses regarding one-sided aggressive dyads.

Section snippets

Participants and procedure

The sample consisted of 194 heterosexual romantic dyads consisting of adolescent females (Mage=16.99 years, SD=1.26) and males (Mage=18.41 years, SD=2.02). Most of the dyads were composed of two German participants (90%).Twenty-three percent of the females and 67% of the males had been raised in two-parent families. Regarding the duration of the romantic relationships, 27.8% of relationships lasting three months or less, 32.3% between three and 12 months, and 39.9% of relationships lasting more

Aggression and relationship functioning: gender dfferences and dyadic correlations

The means and standard deviations for females׳ and males׳ reports of relational and physical aggression and various aspects of relational functioning are presented in Table 1. Paired t tests were used to determine mean-level differences between male and female reports. The t- tests revealed that females reported more relational and physical aggression, and more jealousy in their relationship than males did; males reported more avoidant attachment than females.

Table 2 presents bivariate

Discussion

Romantic relationships are an important part of adolescent lives and are experienced with much emotional intensity and variability. This study explored the different types of relational and physical aggression in adolescent romantic couples and concurrent links to relationship functioning. We selected adolescent couples during the formative years of romantic development with a mean age of 16 (for females) and 18 (for males). This study expands on existing knowledge by using dyadic data).

Limitations and future directions

Although the overall rate of romantic involvement found in our study was in accordance with that found in other same-aged samples (Carver et al., 2003, Williams et al., 2008), a replication of this study would be important, as the self-selective nature of the sample restricts the generalizability of our findings. Of note, our sample contains a high proportion of females from single parent families. It is possible that the high amount of relationship aggression in females is related to their

Conclusions for prevention and intervention

Aggression in adolescent romantic relationships is a serious issue, but the mechanisms that contribute to aggression and its consequences for relationship functioning have not been adequately studied. In this study, males׳ and females׳ use of physical and relational aggression in their romantic relationships emerged as a strong correlate of relationship quality with respect to attachment and jealousy. Our dyadic data allowed us to conduct an analysis of the interdependent exchanges that

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgment

The autors would like to thank Stella Monogenis, Kathi Strack and Jochen Schlecht for their help in data assessment.

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