Attachment styles as predictors of intimate partner violence: A retrospective study with a student population

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration or victimisation and intrinsic factors such as attachment styles. A total of 159 male and 221 female undergraduate students, ranging in age from 18 to 50 participated in the study. Participants completed two self-report inventories: The Abuse within Intimate Relationships Scale (AIRS) and the Experience in Close Relationship Structures (ECR-RS). Following regression analysis, the results indicated being anxiously attached was a predictor of IPV whilst avoidance was not. The personal demographics factors of age and sex did not predict IPV. In conclusion, anxious attachment is an internal model in adult relationships that result in IPV.