James E. Hastings

Personality correlates of men who abuse their partners: A cross-validation study

The present study was designed to replicate a previous investigation of personality profiles of men who abused their partners. The initial study found personality profiles reflecting general categories related to schizoidal /borderline, narcissistic/anti-social, and dependent/compulsive personality disorders. Cross-validation revealed a nearly identical replication of the initial findings. Further, as with the initial study, only about 12% of the subjects in the present effort showed no discernable psychopathology. It was concluded that (1) there is no unitary “batterer profile”, (2) the vast majority of batterers examined evidenced personality disordered profiles, and (3) personality and psychopathological processes must be considered as part of the constellation of psychosocial factors related to spouse abuse.

Personality correlates of men who batter and nonviolent men : some continuities and discontinuities

The present study investigated personality and family-of-origin differences among three groups of domestically violent men and a nonviolent comparison group, matched for age and education. The domestic violence groups consisted of male batterers referred for treatment (agency identified batterers) who were alcoholic (n=38) or nonalcoholic (n=61), and a third group who were identified through community sampling as maritally violent (n=28 community batterers). Multivariate analyses of variance of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) showed that, compared to nonviolent controls, alcoholic and nonalcoholic batterers showed higher levels of borderline characteristics. Furthermore, alcoholic batterers showed the highest MCMI elevations, followed by nonalcoholic batterers. Community-identified batterers showed no predicted significant differences from the nonviolent controls. On measures of family-of-origin pathology and disruption, only alcoholic batterers differed significantly from nonbatterers on report of both experienced and witnessed abuse victimization.

Skills training for treatment of spouse abusers: An outcome study

The present study evaluated a 15-week cognitive-behavioral skills training program for male spouse abusers. Results showed dramatic decreases in occurrence of violent behaviors after treatment, and up to 1-year follow-up in subjects (n =32)completing the intervention. Furthermore, compared to program dropouts (n =36),completers showed a lower rate of physical violence recividism over the 1-year follow-up period. However, there was evidence of continued psychological abuse among completers in some cases (as corroborated independently by the victim/partner). Changes measured by psychometric assessment indicated decreased dysphoria. No change in basic personality, characterized primarily by disorder, was found. The latter findings was interpreted to partly account for continued psychological abuse. Implications for refining programs to address psychological abuse and to develop mechanisms to reduce attrition are discussed.

Characteristics of Spouse Abusers: Predictors of Treatment Acceptance

With increased attention being paid to the problem of male to female spouse abuse, the importance of understanding abuser characteristics is growing. Although violence abatement programs are developing, it has been observed clinically that abusers frequently fail to volunteer for such treatment when it is available. In an initial study, religious affiliation and history of abuse as a child predicted volunteering for treatment, but not following through. In a second replication study, both history of abuse and having witnessed maternal abuse predicted volunteering, and following through on accepting treatment. When both groups were combined, history of abuse as a child predicted both volunteering and following through on treatment for violence abatement. Witnessing of maternal abuse was marginally related to volunteering and following through on treatment acceptance. These results are discussed in terms of setting programmatic and social policy for motivating spouse abusers to accept treatment.

Comparison of adaptations and compliance to exercise training between middle-aged and older men.

Objective: To compare the rate and magnitude of physiologic and psychologic adaptations to aerobic training between middle‐age and older men, to assess their interest in continued participation (>6 months) in a supervised high‐intensity training program, and to evaluate the safety of high‐intensity training for older people.