The Long Arm of Childhood Trauma

Psychological Interpersonal Violence, (P-IPV), the use of abusive and threatening behaviours to assert dominance in an intimate relationship is reported as bi-directional by between 45–95% of couples from the general population. Each person is both victim and perpetrator of violence as a negative escalation upfolds. A study by Dugal et al (2019) aimed to understand the mediating roles of individual negative urgency, the tendency to act rashly when distressed, and dyadic communication patterns in the association between Cumulative Childhood Trauma (CCT) and this form of violence. A sample of 501 heterosexual couples were studied with the results demonstrating that, “in both women and men, increases in the number of CCT events are associated with higher levels of negative urgency, which in turn are associated with higher endorsement of a demand/withdraw and demand/demand communication pattern, and of P-IPV perpetration.” The authors note that the experience of childhood trauma changes affect regulation and the ability to mentalize, to understand one’s own and others mental states in order to comprehend self and other’s intentions and affects, which significantly increases the risk of conflict escalating into violence.

The authors conclude that in working with couples, practitioners should be aware of childhood trauma and the role it may play in fuelling negative exchanges. Interventions which aim at increasing affect regulation and improving mentalization skills in order to decrease conflict and enhance constructive communication may well alleviate the emotional and relational cost of childhood trauma.

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