Investigating the role of family-of-origin risk factors in the prediction of current intimate partner violence: Testing a proposed model based on object relations theory

The study aimed to propose and test a developmental model that explains the familial basis of intimate partner violence through object relations theory. In the proposed theoretical model, it was expected that the variables of family unpredictability, negative parenting attitudes, and interparental violence would predict violence in the current romantic relationship through object relations. The sample consisted of 352 individuals aged between 18-25 and having a romantic relationship that had been going on for at least one year. Participants were recruited through the convenience sampling method. Data were collected online. To measure the variables in the proposed model, the participants completed a scale set consisting of Retrospective Family Unpredictability Scale (Retro-FUS), Short EMBU-Children Form (S-EMBU-C), The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS 2), and Bell Object Relations and Reality Testing Inventory (BORRTI). Analyzes were carried out using the SPSS AMOS program to test whether the proposed theoretical model confirmed by the collected data. The results revealed that each of the variables of family unpredictability, negative parenting attitudes, and interparental violence positively predicted the current partner violence through object relations. In other words, the proposed model was confirmed by the collected data. These findings present empirical support for the crucial role of childhood family environment in shaping individuals' object relations, which in turn shed light on one of the underlying mechanisms of intimate partner violence.