Amy L. Holtzworth-Munroe, Ph.D. - US grants

The primary purpose of the proposed study is to examine social skills deficits as a cross-sectional correlate and as a longitudinal predictor of marital violence. Utilizing McFall's social information processing model, cross-sectional data comparing the social skills of maritally violent/distressed, nonviolent/distressed, and nonviolent/nondistressed men will be gathered. Violent men are predicted to demonstrate more social skills deficits than control subjects. However, in addition, unique social skills deficits at different phases of social information processing are predicted to differentiate two subgroups of maritally violent men-reactively and proactively violent men. In order to examine these hypotheses, subjects' physiological responding, cognitive processing (e.g., causal attributions), and reported behavioral responses to standardized marital conflict situations will be examined. In addition, crosssectional data will be gathered to examine correlates of these subtypes of marital violence. Specifically, subjects' attachment, or their mental representations of relationships, will be examined, as will family of origin violence and attitudes towards violence. Finally, longitudinal data will be gathered to test the social-information processing and attachment models as predictors of the development of marital violence. An 18 month follow-up assessment will be conducted with the original nonviolent control samples to identify the onset of marital violence. Relative to men who are still nonviolent, it is predicted that men who are maritally violent at follow-up are more likely at time one to have been maritally distressed, have social skills deficits in social information processing, and have been categorized as poorly attached. Differences in time one social skills deficits and attachment classification should also predict the development of the different subtypes of violence (reactive versus proactive) at follow-up.

The primary purpose of the proposed study is to examine social skills deficits as a cross-sectional correlate and as a longitudinal predictor of marital violence. Utilizing McFall's social information processing model, cross-sectional data comparing the social skills of maritally violent/distressed, nonviolent/distressed, and nonviolent/nondistressed men will be gathered. Violent men are predicted to demonstrate more social skills deficits than control subjects. However, in addition, unique social skills deficits at different phases of social information processing are predicted to differentiate two subgroups of maritally violent men-reactively and proactively violent men. In order to examine these hypotheses, subjects' physiological responding, cognitive processing (e.g., causal attributions), and reported behavioral responses to standardized marital conflict situations will be examined. In addition, crosssectional data will be gathered to examine correlates of these subtypes of marital violence. Specifically, subjects' attachment, or their mental representations of relationships, will be examined, as will family of origin violence and attitudes towards violence. Finally, longitudinal data will be gathered to test the social-information processing and attachment models as predictors of the development of marital violence. An 18 month follow-up assessment will be conducted with the original nonviolent control samples to identify the onset of marital violence. Relative to men who are still nonviolent, it is predicted that men who are maritally violent at follow-up are more likely at time one to have been maritally distressed, have social skills deficits in social information processing, and have been categorized as poorly attached. Differences in time one social skills deficits and attachment classification should also predict the development of the different subtypes of violence (reactive versus proactive) at follow-up.