WOMENS AGGRESSION IN HETEROSEXUAL CONFLICTS

Using a longitudinal design, prior experience with violence as a victi m and opportunity to aggress were examined as predictors of college wo men's verbal and physical aggression toward romantic partners. Five ad ditional categories of predictors identified in previous research (exp erienced and witnessed parental aggression during childhood, attitudes accepting of aggression, aggressive/impulsive personality attributes, psychopathology, and prior use of aggression) were also examined. Blo ckwise hierarchical re gression analyses were performed to reveal the best predictors of verbal and physical aggression during the first yea r of college. Significant predictors of verbal aggression were prior u se of verbal aggression in heterosexual conflicts during adolescence, witnessed parental aggression, level of adolescent sexual victimizatio n, being a target of rational conflict strategies during adolescence, and use of physical aggression in romantic adolescent relationships, a s well as self-reported verbal aggression as an index of personality, weak emotional ties, number of sexual partners, and approval of sexual intimacy in many types of relationships. Significant predictors of ph ysical aggression were prior use of physical aggression during adolesc ence, witnessing and experiencing parental aggression, being a victim of physical aggression in adolescent romantic relationships, weak emot ional ties,low levels of alcohol/drug use, and opportunity to aggress. A developmental model of aggression in which childhood experiences wi th family violence contribute to the likelihood of subsequent involvem ent in relationship violence seems appropriate. Past experience with a ggression may be particularly important for women. Cultural expectatio ns about women's roles do not provide the social support for female ag gression that is provided for male aggression. Adolescent sexual victi mizations and general involvement in conflictual relationships (as tar get and perpetrator) predicted subsequent verbal aggression, whereas e xperiencing family violence and sustaining physical aggression in roma ntic relationships predicted subsequent physical aggression. (C) 1994 Wiley Liss, Inc.