Partner Physical Victimization in a National Sample of American Families: Relationship to Psychological Functioning, Psychosocial Factors, and Gender

The present study examined the relationship between degrees of partner physical victimization and a range of psychological and psychosocial functioning in a representative sample of American married and cohabiting couples (N=6,451). The study also explored whether gender interacted with any of these factors to predict degree of physical victimization. Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), this study found that increased levels of physical victimization were associated with greater levels of depressive symptomatology. However, the study found that there were no significant interactions involving gender or any of the variables of interest as predictors of degree of partner physical victimization.