Childhood exposure to family violence increases risk for nonsuicidal self-injury and intimate partner violence : the mediating roles of emotion dysregulation and trait anger

Abstract

This study examined associations among childhood exposure to family violence, the perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV), and engagement in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) within a sample of 752 college students in Mainland China. A further aim was to examine the mediating roles of emotion dysregulation and trait anger in any link between childhood exposure to family violence and these violent behaviors. The current study analyzed a sample of 752 students having dating experience longer than one month. The sample was comprised of 408 female (54%) and 344 male (46%) Chinese college students ranging from 18 to 23 years of age. Results of this study revealed that among all the participants, 61% reported that they had perpetrated at least one form of IPV in the lifetime. 18.9% had perpetrated physical IPV, 58.5% had perpetrated psychological IPV, and 5.9% had perpetrated sexual IPV. Furthermore, 32.9% reported that they had ever engaged in NSSI. 71.5% reported at least one form of NSSI or IPV, while 22.3% reported that they had engaged in both types of violence. Additionally, significant positive associations were found between childhood exposure to family violence and the perpetration of IPV and engagement in NSSI. Further analyses indicated that emotion dysregulation and trait anger sequentially mediated the relationship between early family violence and the perpetration of physical and psychological IPV. Results also showed that emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between early family violence and NSSI. The findings of this study highlight the role of maladaptive emotion regulation in the development of various forms of violence (i.e., physical IPV, psychological IPV, and NSSI). Moreover, this process is particularly relevant to those who were exposed to family violence in childhood. Importantly, results suggested that trait anger may be of strong relevance for the perpetration of physical and psychological IPV. Results of the current study indicate that IPV and NSSI share overlapping risk factors (i.e., childhood exposure to family violence and emotion dysregulation). More importantly, results suggest that IPV and NSSI may differ in developmental pathways. Thus, integrated violence prevention programs would be one of the effective ways to prevent NSSI and IPV on college campuses. Findings of the current study highlight the need to address exposure to family violence in childhood and to include an emotion-regulation component in intervention and prevention. Furthermore, screening perpetrators of IPV for elevated trait anger as they are in counseling or battering programs may improve treatment outcomes. Finally, increasing people’s understanding of the negative consequences that result from family violence may encourage social change in Mainland China.