An Initial Investigation of the Relation Between Mindfulness and Female-Perpetrated Dating Violence
Abstract
Dating violence is a prevalent problem among female college students. Several researchers have called for a continued investigation of risk and protective factors for aggression that can be modified through prevention programming. Mindfulness, the ability to be aware and open to the present moment in a nonjudgmental manner (Kabat-Zinn, 1994), may be one such protective factor. However, we are unaware of research that has examined whether individuals higher in mindfulness report less dating violence perpetration. This study investigated this question within a sample of female undergraduate students (N = 379). Findings demonstrated that several facets of mindfulness, particularly describing, acting with awareness, and nonreactivity, were associated with less psychological or physical aggression perpetration in the previous year. Moreover, several mindfulness facets were able to differentiate individuals with a history of perpetration relative to individuals without a history of perpetration. These findings provide preliminary evidence that mindfulness may play an important role in dating violence. Directions for future research on the relation between mindfulness and dating violence are discussed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Research from mainly college samples suggests that acting aware and nonreactivity facets of mindfulness may matter for anger or aggression.
“research from primarily college samples has shown that acting aware and nonreactivity, which are facets of mindfulness, may be important in relation to anger or aggression (Peters, Eisenlohr-Moul, Upton, & Baer, 2013; Shorey, Larson, & Cornelius, 2014).”
From Understanding the Role of Alcohol, Anxiety, and Trait Mindfulness in the Perpetration of Physical and Sexual Dating Violence in Emerging Adults. (2018) · cites this paper as Shorey, Larson, & Cornelius, 2014
Cites
Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness
Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J., & Toney, L. (2006) · Assessment · doi:10.1177/1073191105283504 · Cited by 7,511 · see citing works
Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: A review of empirical studies
Keng, S.-L., Smoski, M. J., & Robins, C. J. (2011) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.04.006 · Cited by 2,687 · cited 1× · see citing works
“As previously mentioned, mindfulness interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing a wide range of health outcomes and improving adaptive functioning (Baer, 2003; Keng et al., 2011).”
BackgroundJain, S., Shapiro, S. L., Swanick, S., Roesch, S. C., Mills, P. J., Bell, I., & Schwartz, G. E. R. (2007) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15324796abm3301_2 · Cited by 1,300 · see citing works
Coffey, K. A., Hartman, M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2010) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-010-0033-2 · Cited by 428 · see citing works
Defining an agenda for future research on the clinical application of mindfulness practice
Dimidjian, S., & Linehan, M. M. (2003) · Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy.bpg019 · Cited by 334 · see citing works
Shorey, R. C., Brasfield, H., Febres, J., & Stuart, G. L. (2011) · Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma · doi:10.1080/10926771.2011.629342 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Gallagher, K. E., Hudepohl, A. D., & Parrott, D. J. (2010) · Aggressive Behavior · doi:10.1002/ab.20351 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Daks, J. S., & Rogge, R. D. (2020) · Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science · doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.09.010 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Four promising psychological interventions for reducing reactive aggression
Denson, T. F. (2015) · Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.04.003 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Shorey, R. C., Seavey, A. E., Quinn, E., & Cornelius, T. L. (2014) · Psychology of Violence · doi:10.1037/a0033658 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Self-citationBrem, M. J., Khaddouma, A. M., Elmquist, J., Florimbio, A. R., Shorey, R. C., & Stuart, G. L. (2016) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260516664317 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“The present study is one of only two known studies to explore potential mechanisms by which dispositional mindfulness relates to women’s DV perpetration (Shorey et al., 2014c).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-citationNgo, Q. M., Ramirez, J. I., Stein, S. F., Cunningham, R. M., Chermack, S. T., Singh, V., & Walton, M. A. (2018) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801218781886 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“Consistent with previous literature, we found that PDV was negatively associated with overall trait mindfulness (Shorey et al., 2014).”
ResultUnraveling the effect of mindfulness on romantic relational aggression: A multiple mediation model
Yang, T., & Yang, J. (2021) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.110613 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Hesse, C., Shorey, R. C., Brem, M. J., Stuart, G. L., & Cornelius, T. L. (2019) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260519879264 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citationJohnson, S. J., & Moore, T. M. (2020) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260520917506 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“These findings are in line with previous research findings, which suggest that as individuals are more mindful, they may be less likely to respond aggressively in conflict situations (Shorey et al., 2014).”
ResultInteractive effects of mindfulness and negative urgency on intimate partner aggression perpetration
Brown, W. T., Martelli, A. M., & Chester, D. S. (2023) · Aggressive Behavior · doi:10.1002/ab.22120 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Specific to romantic relationships, the Describing, Acting with Awareness, and Non-Reactivity facets are negatively associated with IPA perpetration (Shorey et al., 2014).”
BackgroundThe Protective Role of Dispositional Mindfulness on Cyber Dating Abuse: A 6-Month Longitudinal Study
Fernández‐González, L., Orue, I., González‐Cabrera, J. M., Machimbarrena, J. M., & Calvete, E. (2023) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/08862605231162885 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Peng, Y., Song, X., & He, J. (2025) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-025-02641-5
“Many studies have revealed that trait mindfulness is associated with less aggressive factors (Borders et al., 2010; Heppner et al., 2008; Kelley & Lambert, 2012; Shorey et al., 2014).”
InfluentialVerma, A., Rawat, V. P., & Gupta, G. (2024) · ShodhKosh Journal of Visual and Performing Arts · doi:10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i2.2024.6495
- Authors
- Shorey, R. C., Larson, E. E., & Cornelius, T. L.
- Affiliations
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
- Grand Valley State University (US)
- Venue
- Partner Abuse
- Publisher
- Springer Publishing Company
- Published
- 2014
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-20
- ISSN
- 1946-6560 (ISSN-L)
- 1946-6579
- OpenAlex
- W2046917182
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Partner Abuse (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Johns Hopkins University
- Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Keywords
- mindfulness, dating violence, women offenders, aggression perpetration, protective factors, risk factors, female university students, physical aggression, psychological aggression, non-reactivity, acting with awareness, description, violence prevention
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
