Yale University

Factor structures for aggression and victimization among women who used aggression against male partners.

TitleFactor structures for aggression and victimization among women who used aggression against male partners.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2012
AuthorsSwan, Suzanne C., Laura J. Gambone, Lee M. Van Horn, David L. Snow, and Tami P. Sullivan
JournalViolence against women
Volume18
Issue9
Pagination1045-66
Date Published2012 Sep
ISSN1552-8448
KeywordsAfrican Americans, Aggression, Coercion, Crime Victims, European Continental Ancestry Group, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Hispanic Americans, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Jealousy, Male, Men, Sexual Partners, Spouse Abuse, Violence, Women
AbstractTheories and measures of women's aggression in intimate relationships are only beginning to be developed. This study provides a first step in conceptualizing the measurement of women's aggression by examining how well three widely used measures (i.e., the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS), the Sexual Experiences Survey [SES], and the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Inventory [PMWI]) perform in assessing women's perpetration of and victimization by aggression in their intimate relationships with men. These constructs were examined in a diverse sample of 412 African American, Latina, and White women who had all recently used physical aggression against a male intimate partner. The factor structures and psychometric properties of perpetration and victimization models using these measures were compared. Results indicate that the factor structure of women's perpetration differs from that of women's victimization in theoretically meaningful ways. In the victimization model, all factors performed well in contributing to the measurement of the latent victimization construct. In contrast, the perpetration model performed well in assessing women's physical and psychological aggression but performed poorly in assessing women's sexual aggression, coercive control, and jealous monitoring. Findings suggest that the power and control model of intimate partner violence (IPV) may apply well to women's victimization but not as well to their perpetration of violence.
DOI10.1177/1077801212461429
Alternate JournalViolence Against Women

External Links