Publication year
2014
Citation Title
Emotional abuse and its unique ecological correlates among military personnel and spouses.
Journal Name
Psychology of Violence
Journal Volume
4
Issue Number
2
Page Numbers
128-142
DOI
10.1037/a0034536
Summary
All types of abuse, including emotional abuse, can be influenced by risk factors from multiple ecological levels (e.g., family, community, workplace). The correlates of clinically significant emotional abuse were examined among Active Duty Air Force personnel and their civilian spouses via an anonymous survey. Factors associated with increased risk for experiencing abuse differed between men and women at different ecological levels, but the strongest correlates of emotional abuse were relationship dissatisfaction, poor self-efficacy, financial stress, and alcohol problems.
Key Findings
The factors most strongly related to risk for experiencing emotional abuse were relationship dissatisfaction, poor self-efficacy, financial stress, and alcohol problems.
At the community level, more support from neighbors and community cohesion were uniquely related to a reduced risk of experiencing clinically significant emotional abuse for Active Duty men.
Among Active Duty women, working fewer hours was related to a reduced risk of experiencing clinically significant emotional abuse.
Among female civilian spouses, more support from military leadership was related to a lower risk of experiencing clinically significant emotional abuse.
Implications for Program Leaders
Tailor curricula to meet the needs of groups with high rates of emotional abuse, such as Active Duty women who work a large number of hours
Offer workshops on healthy communication skills for military couples
Educate Service members and spouses about the nature of emotional abuse and how to report abuse
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support the implementation and evaluation of empirically-based programs designed to reduce abuse among military families
Recommend integrating emotional abuse screenings into existing programs for military couples
Encourage professional development courses for providers working with military families about how to recognize and address emotional abuse
Methods
Active Duty Air Force members and civilian spouses were invited to complete the 2006 Community Assessment, an anonymous survey conducted at each Air Force base every two years.
Participants completed an online survey assessing emotional health, emotional abuse, and demographic information, and only one member of a couple was included in analysis.
Several individual, family, community, and workplace factors were examined in order to understand their relationship with emotional abuse risk.
Participants
Participants included 42,774 Active Duty U.S. Air Force personnel who were primarily male (81%) and either married (88%) or in a committed relationship (12%) and 17,226 civilian spouses who were primarily female (95%).
The U.S. Air Force sample was weighted on marital status, ethnicity, religion, military rank, and job type to be representative of the Air Force and account for uneven sampling.
On average, male participants were 38.4 years of age (SD = 9.9) and female participants were 33.1 years of age (SD = 7.7).
The majority of the sample had at least one child living with them (76% men, 74% women).
Limitations
Other unmeasured variables, such as previous emotional abuse or a history of child maltreatment, may be influencing results.
It cannot be determined whether individual, family, community, or workplace factors caused emotional abuse due to the cross-sectional nature of the study.
Results may not generalize to other Active Duty military branches or members of the National Guard or Reserves.
Avenues for Future Research
Conduct a longitudinal study of factors that potentially increase or decrease risk for emotional abuse among military couples
Explore how potential risk factors from different ecological levels (e.g., community, family) may impact males and females differently
Continue to examine gender differences in intimate partner violence research, particularly given that research is usually focused on female victims and male perpetrators
Focus
Air Force
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Objective: Identify unique correlates of clinically significant emotional abuse (CS-EA) in a large representative U.S. sample of men and women. Method: Active duty members of the U.S. Air Force in relationships (N = 42,744) and civilian spouses (N = 17,266) from 82 bases worldwide completed an anonymous online survey on CS-EA, individual, family, community, and workplace risk factors. Results: Relationship dissatisfaction, poor self-efficacy, financial stress, and alcohol problems were among the strongest correlates of emotional abuse among the 21 factors examined. In addition, community factors such as support from neighbors and community cohesion independently related to men’s CS-EA, whereas workplace factors were uniquely related to victimization among active duty and civilian women. The strength of bivariate associations with CS-EA for several family, workplace, and community factors differed by military/civilian status, gender, and marital status, but overall ecological models replicated across gender. Conclusions: Although many workplace and community factors were related to CS-EA bivariately, only a select few were related after accounting for individual and family factors. CS-EA is an understudied but important public health problem and the current study helps to identify key correlates of CS-EA that can help inform prevention and treatment efforts aimed at reducing partner violence.
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