226 The Professional Counselor™ Volume 14, Issue 3, Pages 226–240 http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org © 2024 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates doi: 10.15241/fs.14.3.226 The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Relationships: The Role of Childhood Attachment Intimate partner violence (IPV) has consistently been shown to have deleterious effects on survivors’ interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships. Despite the negative outcomes of IPV, distress after IPV varies widely, and not all IPV survivors show a significant degree of distress. The present study examined the impact of IPV on adult attachment and self-esteem, as well as the moderating role of childhood attachment on the relationships between IPV, adult attachment, and self-esteem using path analysis. A total of 1,708 adult participants were included in this study. As hypothesized, we found that IPV survivors had significantly higher levels of anxious and avoidant adult attachment than participants without a history of IPV. Additionally, childhood attachment buffered the relationship between IPV and self-esteem. We did not find that childhood attachment moderated the relationship between IPV and adult attachment. These results provide insight on attachment-based interventions that can mitigate the negative effects of IPV on people’s perceptions of self. Keywords: intimate partner violence, childhood attachment, adult attachment, self-esteem, moderation More than 10 million adults experience intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization annually in the United States (Black et al., 2011); therefore, it undoubtedly remains a prominent public health concern. IPV victimization has been consistently associated with deleterious effects on survivors’ physical and mental health. It is well established that IPV survivors demonstrated increased risks for chronic pain, injury, insomnia, disabilities, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and suicidality (Burke et al., 2005; Gilbert et al., 2023; Matheson et al., 2015; McLaughlin et al., 2012). Historically, empirical studies on trauma and violence have focused on psychopathology and symptoms (McLaughlin et al., 2012; Sayed et al., 2015). However, there is limited research on exploring the link between IPV victimization and intrapersonal and interpersonal relationship outcomes. Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969) not only provides a rich theoretical framework for conceptualizing an individual’s psychopathology, but also establishes a foundation for understanding the intrapersonal and relational sequelae of IPV (Levendosky et al., 2012; Sutton, 2019). IPV survivors often experience a violation of trust and a sense of betrayal in the aftermath and develop ineffective coping mechanisms (e.g., distancing themselves emotionally), which could potentially impact their new intimate relationships (St. Vil et al., 2021). Despite the negative outcomes of IPV victimization, the levels of distress following such incidents can vary (Scott & Babcock, 2010). Although evidence has implicated numerous risk factors related to IPV victimization (e.g., childhood trauma, gender inequity; Jewkes et al., 2017; Meeker et al., 2020), limited effort has been put forth to recognize protective factors that contribute to IPV survivors’ coping and healing processes. Childhood attachment has been proposed as a potential protective factor for IPV survivors’ coping with traumatic experiences and a moderator for buffering the negative psychological outcomes of IPV (Pang & Thomas, 2020), which provides a meaningful foundation for us to further investigate childhood attachment as a moderator buffering relational outcomes. To our knowledge, Fei Shen, Ying Zhang, Xiafei Wang Fei Shen, PhD, LMFT, is an assistant professor at Kean University. Ying Zhang, PhD, is an assistant professor at Clarkson University. Xiafei Wang, PhD, is an assistant professor at Syracuse University. Correspondence may be addressed to Fei Shen, 1000 Morris Ave., Union, NJ 07083, fshen@kean.edu.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDU5MTM1