Husbands' and wives' marital adjustment, verbal aggression, and physical aggression as longitudinal predictors of physical aggression in early marriage

Marital adjustment, verbal aggression, and physical aggression have long been associated in the marital literature, but the nature of their associations remains unclear. In this study, the authors examined these 3 constructs as risk factors for physical aggression during the first 2 years of marriage in 634 couples recruited as they applied for marriage licenses. Couples completed assessments at the time of marriage and at their 1st and 2nd anniversaries. Results of path analyses suggest that prior verbal aggression and physical aggression by both partners are important longitudinal predictors of physical aggression but do not support the role of marital adjustment as a unique predictor of subsequent physical aggression. Contrary to prior research, results also failed to support physical aggression as a unique predictor of marital adjustment. Nationally representative surveys indicate that in a given year approximately 15%-20% of married and cohabiting couples in the United States experience at least one incident of physical partner aggression (e.g., Schafer, Caetano, & Clark, 1998; Straus & Gelles, 1990), and several studies of newly married couples indicate the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) is substantially higher among younger, more recently married couples (e.g., Leonard & Senchak, 1996; O'Leary et al., 1989; Suitor, Pillemer, & Straus, 1990). Moreover, there is evidence that if a pattern of relationship violence is established in a couple, it is likely to persist (O'Leary, 1999). Because of the negative personal and societal costs associated with IPV, significant research attention has been devoted to the identification of risk factors for IPV (for a review, see Schumacher, Feldbau-Kohn, Slep, & Heyman, 2001). To fully understand violent relationships, particularly those observed in community samples, it is important to examine not only the personal characteristics of each partner involved in the relationship but also the dynamics of the relationship and how these may change over time. Marital adjustment, psychological aggression, and prior physical aggression in the relationship are among the relationship factors studied as risk factors for IPV.