Risk Factors for Male-Perpetrated Domestic Violence in Vietnam Veteran Families in the United States, 1988

The goal of this project was to gain a better understanding of risk factors associated with male-perpetrated domestic violence, partner's mental distress, and child behavior problems using data from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS) (Kulka et al., 1990). The researchers sought to demonstrate that two important social and health problems, domestic violence and trauma-related psychological distress, were connected. Additionally, they showed that the sequelae of trauma, defined as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid alcohol abuse, served as major mediators to explain the etiology and propagation of aggressive behaviors in families. The project was organized into four studies, each of which addressed a specific objective: (1) Variables characterizing the perpetrator's family of procreation were used to determine the pattern of relationships among marital and family functioning, perpetrator-to-partner violence, partner's mental distress, and child behavior problems. (2) The perpetrator's early background and trauma history were studied to establish the degree to which the perpetrator's family of origin characteristics and experiences, childhood antisocial behavior, exposure to stressors in the Vietnam war zone, and subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology related to perpetrator-to-partner family violence. (3) The perpetrator's degree of mental distress was examined to ascertain the ways in which the current mental distress of the perpetrator was associated with marital and family functioning, violence, and current mental distress of the partner. (4) Developmental and intergenerational perspectives on violence were used to model a network of relationships explaining the potential transmission of violence across generations, commencing with the perpetrator's accounts of violence within the family of origin and terminating with reports of child behavior problems within the family of procreation.