Treatment of Psychological and Physical Aggression in a Couple Context

Source: (2007) In John Hamel and Tonia L. Nicholls, Ed., Family Interventions in Domestic Violence. New York, USA: Springer Publishing Company. Pp. 363-380.

“…In addition, men and women who hve very little control of their anger outbursts at home or in a therapy session are not good candidates for treatment in a couple context since psychological aggression perpetrated by women was a predictor of their own physical aggression both cross sectionally and longitudinally (Woodin & O’Leary, 2006). As reflected in a large meta-analysis of all published studies in which men’s and women’s behavior was coded in a conjoint problem-solving task, women showed more displays of negative affect (e.g., critical comments and demandingness) (Woodin, 2006). Thus, a clinician should be especially attuned to the ways in which the female may not be able to control her own anger since anger outburst by either party can lead to deleterious escalation of verbal aggression, and anger outbursts have negative impacts on both marital satisfaction and partner aggression.” (excerpt)