Cognitive and emotional contributors to intimate partner violence perpetration following trauma

Exposure to potentially traumatic events often leads to a wide range of interpersonal difficulties, including the perpetration of intimate partner violence. Maladaptive, threat-relevant thoughts and beliefs regarding the trauma or its sequelae can play an important role in a person's emotional and behavioral responses. Among 185 trauma-exposed study participants who were currently in an intimate relationship, levels of maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions were associated with the perpetration of psychological aggression and physical violence in their current relationships. These links were mediated by misappraisal of anger in auditory emotion stimuli and emotion-regulation deficits. Results support a cognitive model of posttraumatic pathology, with implications for clinical intervention and a broad conceptualization of the effects of trauma.