Parental divorce during childhood and use of violence in dating relationships.

355 women and 173 men university students between the ages of 17 and 23 yr. completed a questionnaire which included Straus's Conflict Tactic Scales, and from which whether the respondents had experienced the divorce of their parents could be assessed. Two hypotheses were tested. First, individuals from divorced families would be more likely to report that violence existed in their current relationship than would individuals from intact families. Second, in those relationships which included violence, individuals from divorced families would report higher levels of violence than would individuals from intact families. Analyses indicated that individuals from divorced families were no more likely to report themselves as experiencing violence in their current relationship than were their cohorts from intact families. However, when the conflict tactic scores for men from divorced, men from intact, women from divorced, and women from intact families were compared, differences were found. Men from divorced families reported levels of violence for themselves that approached significance. Also, men from divorced families reported that their partners' verbal aggression approached significance and that their partners' use of violent behavior reached significance when compared to those of the other groups. These results indicate that having experienced a divorce in one's family may have a greater effect on later relationships for men than for women.