Childhood Exposure to Aggression and Adult Relationship Functioning: Depression and Antisocial Behavior as Mediators

Childhood exposure to family aggression is associated with various harmful outcomes, including poor adult relationship functioning (i.e., greater relationship dissatisfaction and partner aggression). The mechanisms by which this transmission occurs, however, are less well understood. In this study, the mediating effects of adult depression and childhood antisocial behavior on the link between childhood exposure to family aggression and adult relationship functioning were investigated using a community sample of 98 couples expecting their first child. Childhood exposure to aggression was linked to greater relationship dissatisfaction and higher rates of partner aggression perpetration for both men and women. For men, symptoms of depression partially mediated the association between aggression exposure and relationship satisfaction. For women, childhood antisocial behavior fully mediated the link between aggression exposure and both indices of poor relationship functioning (dissatisfaction and aggression). These gender-specific results have implications for improving relationship functioning and breaking the intergenerational transmission of relationship dysfunction.