THE INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF VIOLENCE: EXAMINING THE MEDIATING ROLES OF ATTACHMENT AND DESTRUCTIVE DISAGREEMENT BELIEFS by TARA ELIZABETH SUTTON

MEDIATING ROLES OF ATTACHMENT AND DESTRUCTIVE DISAGREEMENT BELIEFS by TARA ELIZABETH SUTTON (Under the Direction of Leslie Gordon Simons) ABSTRACT The current study expands the current literature on the intergenerational transmission of violence by examining insecure attachment styles and destructive disagreement beliefs as mediators in the relationship between family of origin factors, like hostile parenting and interparental aggression, and later experiences of dating violence. Using structural equation modeling, data from 1136 college undergraduates were analyzed separately by gender. Results show that two types of insecure attachment, anxious and avoidant, and destructive disagreement beliefs mediate the relationship between both interparental aggression and hostile parenting and experiences of dating violence victimization and perpetration in emerging adulthood. Furthermore, interparental aggression has a direct impact on males’, but not females’, disagreement beliefs, perpetration, and victimization. The direct effects of hostile parenting on dating violence varied by gender; hostile parenting had a direct impact on perpetration for females but victimization for males.