Utilization of the Brief Symptom inventory to discriminate between violent and nonviolent male relationship partners.

This study reports on the use of the Brief Symptom Inventory, a shortened version of the Symptom Check List-90-Revised, to measure psychopathological symptoms that predict male domestic violence. A sample of 152 men and their partners reported on the severity of violent behavior present in their relationship. Discriminant analysis indicated variation in men's violent status as a function of psychopathological symptoms. Violent men evidenced higher scores on 7 of the 9 subscales of the Brief Symptom Inventory, namely, Depression, Anxiety, Hostility, Phobia, Paranoid Ideation, Interpersonal Sensitivity, and Psychoticism.