Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
J Interpers Violence. 2012 Nov;27(16):3149-70. doi: 10.1177/0886260512441258. Epub 2012 Apr 30.
Studies have found that male batterers are more often insecurely attached as compared with nonbatterers. However, it is still not clear how insecure attachment is related to domestic violence. Many studies compared batterers and nonbatterers regarding pathological personality characteristics that are related to attachment (e.g., dependency, jealousy) and generally found that batterers report more personality characteristics. However, these studies did not investigate which role these characteristics played in the relationship between insecure attachment and battering. The first aim of this study is to test which personality characteristics are good candidates to explain the relationship between insecure attachment and domestic violence. The second aim is to test whether personality characteristics are predictive of battering over and above attachment. Seventy-two mainly court-mandated family-only males who were in group treatment for battering are allocated to a securely and an insecurely attached group and compared with 62 nonbatterers. Using questionnaires, self-esteem, dependency, general distrust, distrust in partner, jealousy, lack of empathy, separation anxiety, desire for control, and impulsivity were assessed. This was the first study that examined distrust, separation anxiety, and desire for control in relation to battering. The results show that the relationship between insecure attachment and domestic violence can be explained by separation anxiety and partner distrust. Moreover, only partner distrust increased the risk for battering over and above insecure attachment. The findings suggest the presence of two subtypes among batterers based on attachment style, which has similarities to the family-only and dysphoric-borderline subtypes suggested by Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart. Implications of the present findings for therapy are discussed.
研究发现，与非施虐者相比，男性施虐者往往更不安全地依恋。然而，依恋与家庭暴力之间的关系仍不清楚。许多研究比较了施虐者和非施虐者在与依恋有关的病态人格特征（如依赖性、嫉妒）方面的差异，普遍发现施虐者报告了更多的人格特征。然而，这些研究并没有调查这些特征在不安全依恋与施虐行为之间的关系中扮演了什么角色。本研究的首要目的是检验哪些人格特征是解释不安全依恋与家庭暴力关系的良好候选者。第二个目的是检验人格特征是否能在依恋之外预测施虐行为。72 名主要因家庭暴力而被法庭强制要求参加家庭治疗的男性施虐者被分配到安全依恋组和不安全依恋组，并与 62 名非施虐者进行了比较。使用问卷评估了自尊、依赖性、普遍不信任、对伴侣的不信任、嫉妒、缺乏同理心、分离焦虑、控制欲和冲动性。这是第一个研究不信任、分离焦虑和控制欲与施虐行为之间关系的研究。研究结果表明，不安全依恋和家庭暴力之间的关系可以用分离焦虑和对伴侣的不信任来解释。此外，只有对伴侣的不信任会增加施虐行为的风险，超过不安全依恋。这些发现表明，根据依恋方式，施虐者存在两种亚型，这与 Holtzworth-Munroe 和 Stuart 提出的仅限于家庭和心境恶劣的边缘型亚型相似。讨论了目前研究结果对治疗的影响。
