title: Borderline and antisocial personality scores as mediators between attachment and intimate partner violence.
abstract: Court-mandated male batterers (n = 192) attending an intervention program completed measures examining adult attachment orientations (anxious and avoidant), personality disorders (borderline and antisocial), type of violence (psychological and physical), and social desirability. Structural equation modeling was used to determine whether there were significant relationships between anxious attachment and physical and psychological violence that are mediated by either borderline or antisocial personality disorders. Social desirability was included in both models as a covariate. Results indicated that personality disorders fully mediated the relationship between avoidant attachment and physical as well as psychological violence. Personality disorders only partially mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and psychological violence. Implications for intervention are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Arizona Prevention Research Center, Arizona State University, Tempe 85287-6005, USA. anne.mauricio@asu.edu
authors.forename: Anne Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mauricio
authors.forename: Jenn-Yun
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Tein
authors.forename: Frederick G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Lopez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment; D012928:Social Desirability; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires