Abstract
The present study examined the association between witnessing interparental violence as a child, and the risk for perpetrating and being the victim of dating aggression as an adult, in an undergraduate sample. Specifically, this study tested a modeling hypothesis whereby witnessing a same sex parent vs. an opposite sex parent exclusively in the aggressor role would be more highly associated with risk for perpetrating dating aggression. Similarly, observing a same sex parent vs. an opposite sex parent as exclusively a victim of marital aggression would be associated with risk for being a victim of dating aggression. A same sex modeling effect was found for perpetration of dating aggression. Respondents who witnessed only their same sex parent perpetrate physical marital aggression were at increased risk for perpetrating physical dating aggression, whereas respondents who witnessed only their opposite sex parent perpetrate were not. A same sex modeling effect, however, was not found for being a victim of dating aggression. Rather, risk for victimization by dating aggression was associated only with witnessing bidirectional marital violence. Implications of these results, limitations of the present study, and ideas for future research are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Bernard, M. L., and Bernard, J. L. (1983). Violent intimacy: The family as a model for love relationships. Family Relations, 32: 283–286.
Breslin, F. C., Riggs, D. S., O'Leary, K. D., and Arias, I. (1990). Family precursors: Expected and actual consequences of dating aggression. J. Interpers. Viol. 5: 247–258.
Bulcroft, R., and Straus, M. (1975). Validity of husband, wife, and child reports of intrafamily violence and power (mimeographed paper V16), University of New Hampshire, Family Violence Research Program, Hanover, NH.
Bussey, K., and Bandura, A. (1984). Influence of gender constancy and social power on sex-linked modeling. J. Personal. Social Psychol. 47: 1292–1302.
Cappell, C., and Heiner, R. B. (1990). The intergenerational transmission of family aggression. J. Fam. Viol. 5: 135–152.
Carlson, B. E. (1984). Children's observations of interparental violence. In Roberts, A. R. (ed), Battered Women and their Families, New York: Springer, pp. 147–167.
DeMaris, A. (1987). The efficacy of a spouse abuse model in accounting for courtship violence. J. Fam. Issues 8: 291–305.
DeMaris, A. (1990). The dynamics of generational transfer in courtship violence: A biracial exploration. J. Marr. Fam. 52: 219–231.
Forsstrom-Cohen, B., and Rosenbaum, A. (1985). The effects of parental marital violence on young adults: an exploratory investigation. J. Marr. Fam. 47: 467–472.
Henning, K., Leitenberg, H., Coffey, P., Bennett, T., and Jankowski, M. K. (1997). Long-term psychological adjustment to witnessing interparental physical conflict during childhood. Child Abuse Negl. 21: 501–515.
Hotaling, G. T., and Sugarman, D. B. (1986). An analysis of risk markers in husband to wife violence: The current state of knowledge: Viol. Vict. 1: 101–124.
Jaffe, P., Wolfe, D., and Wilson, S. (1990). Children of Battered Women, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Kalmuss, D. (1984). The intergenerational transmission of marital aggression. J. Marr. Fam. February: 11–19.
Laner, M. R., and Thompson, J. (1982). Abuse and aggression in courting couples. Dev. Behav. 3: 229–244.
LeJeune, C., and Follette, V. (1994). Taking responsibility: Sex differences in reporting dating violence. J. Interpers. Viol. 9: 133–140.
Malone, J., Tyree, A., and O'Leary, K. D. (1989). Generalization and containment: Different effects of past aggression for wives and husbands. J. Marr. Fam. 51: 687–697.
Marshall, L. L., and Rose, P. (1990). Premarital violence: The impact of family of origin violence, stress, and reciprocity. Viol. Vict. 5: 51–64.
Mischel, W. (1970). Sex-typing and socialization. In Mussen, P. H. (ed.), Carmichael's Manual of Child Psychology, Wiley, New York.
Perry, D. G., and Bussey, K. (1979). The social learning theory of sex differences: Imitation is alive and well. J. Personal. Social Psychol. 37: 1699–1712.
Riggs, D. S., O'Leary, K. D., and Breslin, F. C. (1990) Multiple correlates of physical aggression in dating couples. J. Interpers. Viol. 5: 61–73.
Sigelman, C. K., Berry, C. J., and Wiles, K. A. (1984). Violence in college students' dating relationships. J. Appl. Social Psychol. 5: 530–548.
Steinmetz, S. (1977). The Cycle of Violence, Praeger, New York.
Stets, J., & Straus, M. (1990). Gender differences in reporting marital violence and its medical and psychological consequences. In Straus, M., and Gelles, R. (eds.), Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptions to Violence in 8,145 Families, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, pp. 151–165.
Straus, M. (1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: The Conflict Tactics Scales. J. Marr. Fam. 41: 75–88.
Straus, M. (1990). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: The Conflict Tactics Scales. In Straus, M. and Gelles, R. (eds.), Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptions to Violence in 8,145 Families, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ. pp. 29–44.
Straus, M. (1992). Children as witnesses to marital violence: A risk factor for lifelong problems among a nationally representative sample of American men and women. In Schwarz, D. (ed.), Children and Violence: Report on the 23rd Ross Roundtable on Critical Approaches to Common Pediatric Problems Ross Laboratories, Columbus, OH, pp. 98–104.
Straus, M., Gelles, R., and Steinmetz, S. (1980). Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family, Doubleday, New York.
Walker, L. (1979). Battered Women, Harper & Row, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jankowski, M.K., Leitenberg, H., Henning, K. et al. Intergenerational Transmission of Dating Aggression as a Function of Witnessing Only Same Sex Parents vs. Opposite Sex Parents vs. Both Parents as Perpetrators of Domestic Violence. Journal of Family Violence 14, 267–279 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022814416666
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022814416666