Cognitive-Affective Predictors of Women’s Readiness to End Domestic Violence Relationships
Open accessAbstract
A model of women’s readiness to terminate an abusive relationship was examined, using cognitive and emotional factors to predict readiness to change as conceptualized in the transtheoretical model. Factors previously identified in the domestic violence literature were selected to represent cognitive predictors (attribution and attachment style) and affective predictors (depression, hopelessness, anxiety, and anger) of readiness to end a domestic violence relationship. Responses by 85 female victims of intimate partner violence indicated that their overall readiness to terminate a relationship was predicted by a preoccupied attachment style and high emotional arousal. However, women’s low level of anger predicted their precontemplation of change, the earliest stage of readiness, whereas internalizing emotional difficulties and preoccupation with their batterer predicted maintenance, the final stage of readiness to persist in their decision to leave their abuser. Implications of these findings for working with women considering leaving their partner are discussed.
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Only four studies failed to find some kind of relationship between attachment and physical IPV victimization.
“Considering the specific dimensions of attachment, only four studies failed to find some kind of relationship with physical IPV victimization (Bookwala, 2002; Orcutt et al., 2005; Shurman and Rodriguez, 2006; Rapoza and Baker, 2008).”
From Exploring Relationships: A Systematic Review on Intimate Partner Violence and Attachment (2018) · cites this paper as Shurman and Rodriguez, 2006
Studies conducted on women with reported history of IPV mainly failed to find an association between anxious attachment and psychological victimization.
“Regarding the anxious dimension, studies conducted on women with reported history of IPV mainly failed to find an association between anxious attachment and psychological victimization (Henderson et al., 1997; Shurman and Rodriguez, 2006; Kuijpers et al., 2012).”
From Exploring Relationships: A Systematic Review on Intimate Partner Violence and Attachment (2018) · cites this paper as Shurman and Rodriguez, 2006
Almost half of the studies found that psychological IPV victimization was not associated with anxious or avoidant dimensions of attachment.
“Noteworthy, almost half of the studies found that psychological IPV victimization was not associated with anxious or avoidant dimensions of attachment (Henderson et al., 1997; Shurman and Rodriguez, 2006; Wigman et al., 2008; Oka et al., 2014; Bélanger et al., 2015; Tougas et al., 2016).”
From Exploring Relationships: A Systematic Review on Intimate Partner Violence and Attachment (2018) · cites this paper as Shurman and Rodriguez, 2006
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Exploring Relationships: A Systematic Review on Intimate Partner Violence and Attachment
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Attachment as a Moderator Between Intimate Partner Violence and PTSD Symptoms
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- Authors
- Shurman, L. A., & Rodriguez, C. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Utah (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Interpersonal Violence
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2006-11
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1417-1439
- ISSN
- 0886-2605 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-6518
- OpenAlex
- W2170407205
- Cited by
- 70
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 5.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Interpersonal Violence (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- NC Digital Online Collection of Knowledge and Scholarship (The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Keywords
- intimate partner violence, transtheoretical model, attribution, depression, hopelessness, anxiety, anger, precontemplation, emotional arousal, leaving abusive relationships
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anger, Anxiety, Cognition, Depression, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Middle Aged, Object Attachment, Surveys and Questionnaires, Spouse Abuse, Women's Health
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