Why We Harm the Ones We Love: Proclivity and Predictive factors of Domestic Violence Perpetration

This thesis presents the development and validation of the first gender neutral domestic violence (DV) proclivity and predictors tool, as a contribution to addressing this major global public health concern, by reviewing existing DV tools and providing evidence for the development and validation of a DV proclivity scale. An examination of the literature suggests that there are three potential predictive factors of (DV) proclivity and perpetration (i.e., childhood exposure to DV, angry rumination, implicit theories), that are theoretically related to common DV behavior (i.e., interpersonal aggression). For instance, researchers have observed that angry rumination prolongs aggressive priming (Pedersen et al., 2011) that increases the likelihood of displaced aggression (Vasquez, Denson, Pedersen, Stenstrom & Miller, 2005), which is associated with the pattern of DV behavior. Therefore, the current research was aimed towards the development of a single DV tool that (1) assessed these three predictors; (2) measured DV proclivity; and (3) was gender neutral - i.e., assesses both male and female perpetrators.

To this end, seven empirical studies are presented in this thesis. Studies 1 and 2 were conducted to develop, finalise and replicate the final DV Proclivity scale (DVPPT; Ruddle et al., in prep), based on factor analyses and the assessment of its psychometric qualities (i.e., the internal consistency and validity). Studies 3 and 4 were conducted to determine the concurrent validity of the DVPPT by assessing the constructs of the DVPPT alongside measures theoretically suggested to be positively and negatively associated with DV (i.e., displaced aggression). Study 5 explores the role of traditional gender role beliefs in relation to DV proclivity, and DV myth acceptance and victim blame are examined as potential additional predictors of DV proclivity. The last two studies (Study 6 and 7) were conducted to revise the DVPPT to make it more accessible for individuals with literacy difficulties, specifically dyslexia, following participant feedback from the previous studies.

Collectively, these results demonstrate the good internal reliability, concurrent validity, and gender neutrality of the DVPPT and the DVPPT (Dyslexia-R). In addition, childhood exposure to DV, angry rumination and implicit theories are shown as predictors of DV, and traditional gender role beliefs as a predictor of DV proclivity. Following this, the findings of the current research are summarised, limitations discussed and the directions of future research are presented.