Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
Predicting attachment and violence in relationships: An investigation across three generations
Abstract
This study examined whether dimensions of attachment (close, depend, anxiety) and social support would significantly contribute to the prediction of abuse across three generations. Generation three (G3) consisted of adult children (82 males and 98 females) while generation two (G2) consisted of their parents (89 males and 161 females). Both groups served as the pivotal reporters responding to questionnaires regarding parental spouse abuse and child abuse, G2 child abuse, abuse in their own intimate relationships, attachment, and social support. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the extent to which: child and spouse abuse in generation one (G1) would predict partner abuse in G3 and whether the inclusion of G3 attachment and social support would add to this prediction; child and spouse abuse in G1 would predict child and spouse abuse in G2 and whether G2 attachment and social support when included would contribute to this prediction; child and spouse abuse in G2 would predict partner abuse in G3 and whether G2 and G3 attachment and social support would add to the prediction; child and spouse abuse in G1 and G2 would predict partner abuse in G3 and whether the inclusion of G2 and G3 attachment and social support would add to this prediction. For G2 women, ability to feel comfortable with closeness and maternal child abuse predicted spouse abuse in their own intimate relationships. Additionally, G2 women's anxiety about being abandoned and their ability to depend on others predicted abuse in their children's intimate relationships. Furthermore, the extent to which G2 women felt they could depend on others solely predicted abuse in their offspring's intimate relationships when G1 and G2 variables were considered together. However, only paternal and maternal child abuse predicted child abuse for G2 women. For G2 men, paternal child abuse and parental spouse abuse predicted child abuse while parental spouse abuse predicted abuse in their own intimate relationships. Results indicate the importance of considering other factors such as attachment when considering the transmission of violence.
Subject Area
Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology|Psychotherapy|Developmental psychology
Recommended Citation
Adamson, Jackie L, "Predicting attachment and violence in relationships: An investigation across three generations" (1997). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9805493.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9805493