Geoffrey Winston Corner

Purpose: Recent literature suggests the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on intimate partner violence (IPV) in the U.S. However, the examination of bidirectional IPV is needed. Bidirectional aggression is the most common form of IPV and is associated with more frequent and serious relationship violence. The current study examined COVID stress and pre-COVID bidirectional IPV as independent and interactive risk factors for IPV during COVID. Method: Four hundred and eighty-four racially and ethnically diverse (31% white) women and men living with a romantic partner in the U.S. completed an online survey through the research platform Prolific. Participants completed an adapted version of the Domestic Conflict Inventory and a novel measure of COVID-specific stress. Results: Analyses showed that greater COVID stress was consistently associated with greater psychological IPV perpetration and victimization, and bidirectional IPV was significantly associated with greater psychological and physical perpetration than perpetrator-only IPV. A significant interaction between COVID stress and bidirectional IPV revealed that greater COVID stress was associated with greater psychological perpetration during COVID, but only for participants reporting pre-COVID bidirectional, compared to perpetrator-only IPV. Lastly, exploratory analyses revealed specific COVID stressors, i.e., parenting, employment insecurity, and crowding, that related to different forms of IPV during COVID. Conclusion: Pandemic-related stress and a history of IPV, particularly relationships in which partners are both victims and perpetrators, were significant risk factors for IPV during the pandemic. These findings suggest that individuals already at risk for IPV are at an increased risk for IPV during times of crisis.

Despite evidence linking prenatal psychosocial stress and social support to perinatal maternal and infant health, no study has explored couple conflict behavior during pregnancy as a predictor of subsequent birth outcomes. The current study examines whether couples' positive and negative conflict behaviors during pregnancy predict their stress during the birth experience and gestational and birth outcomes. Forty-seven first-time expectant couples participated in a conflict discussion during pregnancy that was observationally coded. Several months later, following the birth of their child, couples reported on their subjective childbirth stress. By summing medical chart data on gestational outcomes and birth complications, we computed a cumulative birth risk score. Negative conflict behavior was related to higher cumulative birth risk scores, and conversely, positive conflict behavior was associated with lower birth risk, even after controlling for maternal pregnancy symptoms. Similarly, more negative conflict behavior predicted higher mother-reported birth stress, while positive conflict behavior predicted lower father-reported birth stress. However, birth stress effects became nonsignificant after controlling for maternal pregnancy symptoms. Although the pregnancy literature has focused primarily on maternal characteristics, these findings highlight the significance of couple interactions in predicting parental birth stress and birth outcomes. This study integrates psychological, behavioral, and medical chart data to enhance our understanding of how interpersonal factors influence gestational outcomes and the birth experience. These results have important clinical implications for potential couple interventions during pregnancy that can shape fetal development, the labor and delivery experience, and influence child and family health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).