Agreement about acts of aggression in marriage

J Fam Psychol. 2006 Dec;20(4):656-62. doi: 10.1037/0893-3200.20.4.656.

Abstract

Psychological and Physical Aggression scales met internal consistency and agreement standards on the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2) in a randomly recruited sample of 453 married community couples with children. Moreover, partners agreed on the extent of psychological and physical aggression as much or more than they did on CTS2 Negotiation scale and positive behaviors assessed on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. On the other hand, the CTS2 Sexual Coercion and Injury scales had much lower internal consistencies as measured by Cronbach's alpha, and agreement was generally very low. Men and women reported less abusive behavior and consequent injury than partners reported about them. Correction factors were provided for prevalence estimates of abusive behavior and injury when only perpetrator reports were available.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aggression / psychology*
  • Coercion
  • Consensus*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Marriage / psychology*
  • Personality Inventory / statistics & numerical data*
  • Psychometrics / statistics & numerical data
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sex Factors
  • Sexual Behavior
  • Spouse Abuse / psychology*
  • Spouse Abuse / statistics & numerical data
  • Violence / psychology
  • Violence / statistics & numerical data
  • Wounds and Injuries / epidemiology
  • Wounds and Injuries / psychology