Physical, Psychological, and Sexual Intimate Partner Aggression Among Newlywed Couples: Longitudinal Prediction of Marital Satisfaction

This study examined associations between physical, psychological, and sexual intimate partner aggression (IPA) perpetration during the first year of marriage (T1) and victim marital satisfaction one (T2) and two (T3) years later among a sample of 202 newlywed couples. Prevalence rates of all forms of IPA were consistent with those documented in prior research. Higher levels of all types of IPA generally were associated with lower victim marital satisfaction at all time points, when controlling for initial levels of satisfaction. Couples who reported severe bidirectional psychological IPA demonstrated lower husband and wife marital satisfaction at T2 and lower husband satisfaction at T3 than couples who reported husband-only, wife-only, or no psychological IPA. Analyses examining the relative predictive abilities of all forms of IPA perpetration showed that psychological IPA was the most consistent unique contributor of victim marital satisfaction. Study findings highlight the importance of psychological IPA, in addition to physical IPA, in examinations of correlates of marital satisfaction.