The presence of chronic trauma symptoms and similarity to a specific p
rofile for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were assessed in a gr
oup 132 wife assaultive men and 44 demographically matched controls. M
en who committed intimate abuse experienced more chronic trauma sympto
ms than nonabusive controls. A composite profile on the MCMI-II for wi
fe assaulters demonstrated peaks on 82C (negative/avoidant/borderline)
, as have two independent studies of the profile of men diagnosed with
PTSD. However, the assaultive population had higher scores on the ant
isocial personality scale and lower scores on anxiety and dysthymia. T
his PTSD-like profile on the MCMI-II was associated significantly with
more frequent anger and emotional abuse of the subject's partner. The
trauma origin for these men may have been parental treatment: experie
ncing frequent trauma symptoms as an adult was significantly related t
o negative recollections of parental treatment, specifically parental
coldness/rejection and physical abuse.