3 - (SYM 112) the Role of Moral Distress in Intimate Partner Aggression over Time

Veteran research suggests that moral injury, or psychological distress in response to moral transgressions, is linked to future engagement in aggression. This theory was recently proposed to better understand intimate partner aggression (IPA). However, research to date has been largely cross-sectional, precluding testing of the primary tenets of the theory. Moral distress may represent a useful treatment target to facilitate behavior change and optimize the well-being of individuals and their partners.

Participants are 450 individuals from 236 cohabiting low-income community couples. Participants completed 6 interviews about past-month incidents of psychological and physical IPA, each spaced 4-6 weeks apart. Participants reported on cognitions about whether they violated morals and experienced moral emotions (i.e., guilt/shame) with respect to their IPA use during their most severe incidents of aggression during the past month, as well as trait-level IPA-related moral distress in a post-study survey. Using multilevel generalized linear regression models, we examined how moral responses following each severe incident predicted the amount of future IPA used while controlling for degree of prior aggression and time between incidents.

Preliminary analyses were conducted among 239 participants from 134 couples. Within-person, greater incident-level moral cognitions after one personally severe incident predict 38% more IPA in subsequent incidents, whereas the predictive value of moral emotions was nonsignificant. Between-person, those who report greater post-incident moral emotions reported more IPA use on average, whereas those who report more post-incident moral cognitions tended to report less IPA on average. Further, incident-level moral distress more strongly predicted future IPA use among those with greater trait-level moral distress. In the full sample, gender differences and convergences across types of moral cognitions will be examined.

Results suggest that moral cognitions play a stronger role in future use of IPA than do moral emotions, but post-incident moral emotions and trait-level moral distress may distinguish individuals at risk for more IPA overall. Further, moral psychological responses to IPA may be intrinsically reinforcing or punishing, in turn influencing the reoccurrence of IPA overtime and risk for greater aggression. Cognitive-behavioral interventions for IPA may better promote healthy relationships if they directly target moral processes to promote behavior change.