Utilizing a General Strain Framework to Examine Behavioral Responses to Psychological Intimate Partner Violence: Are Responses Gendered?

We know from the violence literature that a distinct sex disparity exists in the perpetration of other-directed violence (ODV). Some scholars suggest that this disparity is explained in part by gendered reactions to stress, strain, or violence victimization, in which males and females engage in different coping mechanisms, with males more likely to engage in ODV than females. Using a college sample, we investigate the behavioral responses of male and female victims of psychological intimate partner abuse.