NCJ Number
217770
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 22 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2007 Pages: 19-24
Date Published
January 2007
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study examined the links between aggression in romantic relationships and social anxiety, loneliness, depressive symptoms, and alcohol and drug use in a sample of 215 undergraduate college students, with attention to gender-related effects.
Abstract
Consistent with prior research, there were no gender differences in the experience of aggression in romantic relationships. Such aggression was positively related to social anxiety (for women only), loneliness, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use and drug use. College counselors and campus healthcare providers should be aware of the risk involved with aggression in romantic relationships and be alert to the warning signs of such aggression, with a view toward providing appropriate mental health services that target underlying factors. Future studies should continue to explore the role of moderating variables such as age, past relationship experiences, and individual personality traits or coping styles. The data were obtained from 215 undergraduate college students who reported being in a current romantic relationship (163 females and 52 males). They were enrolled in a public university in the southeastern United States. Morales, Ruh, and Werner's (2007) seven-item adult Romantic Relational Aggression scale measured the frequency with which the respondent attempted or harmed his/her partner through behaviors such as shunning, purposeful ignoring, and making them jealous. Other variables were measured with the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents, the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the scales of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). PAI scales focused on depression, alcohol problems, and drug problems. 2 tables and 21 references