Effects of Angry Rumination and Distraction in Intimate Partner Violent Men

Abstract

Although the tendency to ruminate is related to the frequency of intimate partner violent (IPV) perpetration, it is unclear how IPV men react emotionally and physiologically during angry rumination. This study is the first to experimentally manipulate rumination and distraction with violent men. Using the rumination and distraction paradigm developed by Nolen-Hoeksema and Morrow, IPV (N = 87) and nonviolent (NV; N = 30) men underwent an anger induction and then were randomly assigned to either ruminate or distract. IPV men were hypothesized to experience increased effects of rumination compared to NV men. As predicted, the results demonstrate an increase in heart rate from baseline to postrumination. No change in physiological arousal was observed in the distraction condition over time. Surprisingly, no difference state anger was found between IPV and NV men, and both conditions resulted in an increase in state anger. Implications for battering interventions suggest that distraction strategies, such as taking a time-out, are not sufficient to decrease physiological arousal. Intervention strategies that address mindfulness, physiological soothing, distorted cognitions, and rumination may be more powerful in decreasing negative physiological arousal among IPV men.

Keywords

intervention/treatment domestic violence batterers mental health and violence

Intimate partner violence is a global human rights issue, in which victimization results in severe physical and psychological consequences (Coker et al., 2002; Simmons et al., 2015). Past research that focused on perpetrators of IPV has explored psychological correlates of IPV perpetration (Birkley & Eckhardt, 2015; Jackson et al., 2015). However, experimental research on IPV perpetrators is limited, and experiments exploring the role of anger are even scarcer. The role of anger in IPV is controversial, with some researchers claiming IPV is the result of a desire for power and control, not a response to anger (Gondolf & Russell, 1986; McMurran & Gilchrist, 2008). However, there is strong evidence that focusing on one’s anger causes an increase in physical aggression (Bushman, 2002), and it is doubtful that IPV is an exception to this rule. Using the rumination versus distraction experimental paradigm developed by depression researchers, this study seeks to investigate differences in emotions and physiological arousal following angry rumination or distraction in IPV men.

Rumination

Rumination is defined as engaging in behavior or thoughts that are focused on one’s distress. This can include thinking about the symptoms, causes, and results of one’s current mood state (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). According to the response styles theory (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991), individuals who engage in rumination when in a negative mood state will experience a longer and more severe negative mood compared to individuals who do not engage in rumination. The last two decades of research in this area has provided strong evidence that rumination is not an adaptive or helpful type of thinking (Lyubomirsky et al., 1998). There is evidence that rumination is a risk factor for a number of psychological disorders, including depression (Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991; Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1997), anxiety (McLaughlin & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2011), and substance use (Nolen-Hoeksema & Harrell, 2002), as well as aggressive behavior (Caprara, 1986; Maxwell, 2004) and IPV specifically (Sotelo & Babcock, 2013).

Research exploring the effects of rumination has generally used the experimental paradigm developed by Nolen-Hoeksema and Morrow (1993) to study depression. In this design, participants are randomly assigned to ruminate or distract. Those in the rumination condition are asked to focus on the meanings, causes, and consequences of their current emotional state. Specific prompts, such as “Think about the level of motivation you feel right now,” are displayed on a computer monitor. The alternative condition, distraction, where participants are asked to focus on prompts unrelated to their current mood state (e.g., “Think about the layout of your favorite shopping center”), is expected to temporarily divert participants’ attention from any negative affect, and thus, those experiencing negative affect should feel a temporary relief to some degree. Distraction involves diverting one’s attention from his or her negative affect to pleasant or neutral thoughts that are engaging and result in positive reinforcement without causing harm to the individual (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). Rumination and distraction conditions have no effect on participants who are not experiencing negative affect of some kind. However, depressed or dysphoric individuals experience an exacerbation of their negative mood state during rumination and a temporary decrease during distraction (Donaldson & Lam, 2004; Lavender & Watkins, 2004; Lyubomirsky & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1993; Lyubomirsky et al., 1998; Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1993; Watkins & Moulds, 2005). In the case of depression, using alternative types of thinking over time, such as focusing on positive thoughts or distracting oneself, have been shown to decrease one’s depressive symptoms (Broderick, 2005; Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991; Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991).

Angry Rumination

Angry rumination is defined as the process of retaining and perseverating on hostile thoughts and/or thoughts of vengeance. It differs from a hostile attribution bias, which is the tendency to interpret other’s actions as having a hostile intention (Nasby et al., 1980). Angry rumination is the tendency to focus on the past and then perseverate on that thought (Farzan-Kashani, 2018; Miller et al., 2003). Rusting and Nolen-Hoeksema (1998) were the first to apply the rumination versus distraction experiment to the study of anger. Following an anger induction task, participants were assigned to either ruminate or distract. Rumination was found to increase anger, whereas distraction decreased anger or had no effect on anger. Research finds positive associations between angry rumination and physical aggression, verbal aggression, hostility (Anestis et al., 2009), and aggressive responses to insults or provocations (Bushman et al., 2005; Caprara, 1986; Collins & Bell, 1997; Denson et al., 2011). For example, after an anger induction, participants who were assigned to punch a bag and ruminate showed more aggression than participants who were assigned to punch a bag and distract (Bushman, 2002). Rumination increased triggered displaced aggression (as measured by the duration of punishing a confederate with hand cold water submersion) among college students who were provoked by the experimenter, especially if they were given alcohol during the experiment (Denson et al., 2011).

While rumination maintains anger and facilitates the expression of aggression, it is unclear how rumination influences physiological arousal, as few studies have been published on the subject. Some have found that depressed individuals induced to ruminate show an increase in systolic blood pressure, an indication of increased physiological arousal (Siegle & Thayer, 2004; Vickers & Vogeltanz-Holm, 2003). However, depression diagnosis had no effect on one’s physiological response to rumination, and thus, an increase in systolic blood pressure may not be unique to depressive rumination (Bermudez & Perez-Garcia, 1996). Anger also results in increased blood pressure (Everson et al., 1998), which can be induced even by recalling a past, anger-inducing event (Lampert et al., 2000) and can be maintained through rumination (Gerin et al., 2006). Participants who were asked to distract following an anger-inducing event showed greater blood pressure recovery than participants who were instructed to ruminate (Gerin et al., 2006). Rumination may serve to maintain the anger and physiological experience of an event, leading to a prolonged state of physiological activation (Gerin et al., 2006). This prolonged activation of the fight-or-flight system may also increase the risk for aggression and violence (Beauchaine et al., 2001; Porges et al., 1994).

Few studies have explored the role of angry rumination in the context of IPV, with previous studies exploring only self-reported trait rumination or experimental studies with samples of convenience. First, Dewhurst et al. (1992) found that IPV perpetrators were more likely to ruminate over interpersonal harm than were sex offenders. Two other questionnaire studies found that high trait rumination predicted the frequency of aggressive acts in a community sample (Sotelo & Babcock, 2013) and in a clinical sample (Farzan-Kashani, 2018) of partner violent men. However, no studies have experimentally manipulated angry rumination to explore the effects on emotional arousal and physiological reactivity in IPV men.

Using the rumination versus distraction paradigm following an anger induction, this study tested the following hypotheses in a community sample of intimate partner violent (IPV) men compared to nonviolent (NV) men. Hypotheses 1 to 3 will serve as manipulation checks while also extending previous rumination research to an IPV population.

IPV and NV men will show an increase in physiological arousal and self-reported anger following an anger induction task.

IPV and NV men randomly assigned to ruminate will show an increase in physiological arousal and self-reported anger during rumination.

IPV and NV men randomly assigned to distract will show a decrease in physiological arousal and self-reported anger during distraction.

IPV men will show greater increases in self-reported anger and physiological arousal during the anger induction task and rumination or distraction conditions compared to NV men.

Method

Sample

Participants (N = 114) were recruited as part of a larger study exploring psychophysiological responding in IPV perpetrators. Couples were recruited through newspaper advertisements and flyers. The advertisement read “Couples experiencing conflict needed to participate in a research study.” The advertisement also listed a number of requirements for participating. Participants had to be married or living together as if married for at least 6 months, at least 18 years of age, and native English speakers. There must have been at least two male-to-female acts of IPV during the past year to be included in the IPV sample.

Procedure

Interested couples were contacted by phone by trained undergraduate students. Female partners completed the violence subscale of the Conflicts Tactics Scale-2 (CTS2; Straus et al., 1996). To be classified as IPV, the female partner had to report at least two instances of male-to-female violence in the past year and not anticipate increased aggression in her partner as a result of participation in the study. To be included in the NV group, the female partner had to report no male-to-female violence in the past 5 years and no serious violence during the entire course of their relationship.

Male participants completed two assessment periods, lasting a total of approximately 6 hours. The first assessment period included a number of self-report measures and a standardized anger induction task. Following the anger induction task, participants were randomly assigned to either ruminate or distract for 8 minutes. Psychophysiological measures were continuously collected during a resting baseline before the anger induction task and ending after the rumination/distraction task. Psychophysiological measures included heart rate (HR), skin conductance, respirations, skin temperature, finger pulse amplitude, and movement. Male participants were paid $30 for participation in the first session. Both partners participated in the second session and engaged in a Play-by-Play interview (Hooven et al., 1996) and a structured conflict discussion. Each partner was paid $35 for their participation in the second session.

Anger induction task

The standardized anger induction task used was the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (ATSS) paradigm (Davison et al., 1983). This task includes two audiotaped vignettes. Previous research has demonstrated that these vignettes induce anger (Eckhardt et al., 1998) and physiological arousal among IPV male perpetrators (Babcock et al., 2005). For the first vignette, participants were asked to imagine as if they were overhearing a conversation between their wife and someone else. In this scenario, the wife is recorded describing her husband as “a loser” and a poor financial provider. In the second vignette, the participants hear a woman, who they are asked to imagine is their wife, preparing dinner for another male. In the original ATSS task (Eckhardt et al., 1998), participants listened to the scenarios, interrupted every 30-seconds by a 30-second articulation period where they expressed their thoughts and feelings about the scenarios aloud. In this study, baseline physiological data were collected for 4 minutes, and then the two scenarios, each 4 minutes in duration, were played without interruption so as to keep the physiological responding more consistent. As participants listened to the scenarios, they were instructed to use a rating dial to continuously indicate their level of anger (ranging from “neutral” to “violently angry”). These continuous anger ratings were not analyzed in this study. Following each scenario, men articulated aloud for 1 minute about their thoughts and feelings regarding the scenarios.

Rumination/distraction task

The rumination and distraction manipulation was a computerized version of Lyubomirsky and Nolen-Hoeksema’s (1995) task. Each condition involves the participant reading at his own pace and thinking about a series of phrases on a computer monitor for 8 minutes. In the rumination condition, participants were given items about their current physical and emotional state and their personal characteristics. Some examples include “Think about: the physical sensations you feel in your body” or “why you react the way you do.” Because in earlier trials, the rumination condition had little impact on self-reported anger, some stronger items were added to the rumination task, including, “It’s not fair” and “She shouldn’t have done that.” In the distraction condition, participants were shown Lyubomirsky and Nolen-Hoeksema’s (1995) original items not focusing on their current physical and emotional state or their personal characteristics. For example, participants were asked to think about “children playing at a beach” or “the fuzz on the shell of a coconut.” The items were repeated if participants clicked finished before 8 minutes.

Safety check

At the end of the second session, male partners were debriefed about the purpose of the study and asked to rate their current level of anger. Participants who indicated moderate to high levels of anger were asked to wait in the laboratory until they “cooled down.” Referrals for counseling were offered. Female partners were also debriefed and asked to rate their current level of fear and a safety check was conducted. Referrals for counseling and a list of resources for victims of IPV were provided to all interested participants. A follow-up telephone call to each female partner was conducted 1 week following participation to assess for adverse events resulting from participation in the study. All participants denied adverse events.

Self-Report Measures

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2; Straus et al., 1996) is a 78-item measure used to assess the rates of both physical and psychological aggression by self and by partner. With each item in the measure, the participant rates his or her own behavior and his or her partner’s behavior. The measure contains five subscales: psychological aggression, physical assault, sexual coercion, injury, and negotiation. This study only used the frequency of male-to-female acts of physical violence. Internal consistency ranges from 0.79 to 0.95. Cronbach’s alpha for this subscale was 0.85 in the current data set.

State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory

The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI; Spielberger, 1998) is a 44-item self-report measure that assesses the intensity of anger at a certain time point. The STAXI includes six subscales: State Anger, Trait Anger, Anger-Out, Anger-In, Anger Control-Out, and Anger Control-In. In this study, only the State Anger subscale was used. The STAXI has demonstrated high reliability and validity. Measures of internal consistency of the State Anger scale range from 0.65 to 0.93 (Bishop & Quah, 1998; Spielberger, 1998). Cronbach’s alpha was 0.867 for State Anger in the current data set. Normative data for the State Anger scale averages 14.10 (Spielberger, 1998). The State Anger items were administered three times: pre–anger induction, post–anger induction, and post–rumination/distraction task. To mask the purpose of these repeated assessments, nonangry words were interspersed (e.g., peaceful and happy). The order of items presented was varied each time it was administered.

Physiological Measures

HR, skin conductance, respiration, finger pulse amplitude, ear pulse amplitude, skin temperature, and movement were continuously collected at baseline, during the standardized anger induction, and throughout either the rumination condition or distraction condition. Physiological measures were collected using an integrated software and hardware package by James Long Company (Long, 1998). For this study, only HR, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and skin conductance level (SCL) were examined. HR was measured using three, pregelled, 30-mm square Unitrace, alligator-clip-type electrodes on the participant’s chest. Two of the electrodes were placed in a bipolar configuration on opposites sides of the chest. The third electrode was placed on the sternum and acted as a ground. The interbeat interval (IBI) data analysis program (Long, 1998) recorded R-waves on a second-by-second basis upon which beats per minute were determined. To control for the baseline HR differences between groups as well as individual differences in range of reactivity, range-corrected HR scores were used in analyses (Lykken et al., 1966).¹ To measure skin conductance, two James Long Company Ag/AgCl (1-cm diameter) electrodes containing isotonic solution were placed on the first and third phalanges of each participant’s non-dominant hand. Sweat gland secretion was recorded in microsiemen. RSA measures decreases in HR controlled by the vagus nerve. The ability to downregulate one’s HR is partly voluntary (Pribram & McGuinness, 1975) and thought of as a strategy for emotion self-regulation (Porges et al., 1994). Respiration was measured using a bellows fitted around the chest. RSA is measured by the difference between the minimum IBI during inspiration and the maximum IBI during expiration. The average of each psychophysiological channel during the 4-minute resting baseline (before anger induction), the 8-minute anger induction, and the 8-minute rumination/distraction task was entered as repeated measures for data analysis.

Results

Demographics

The final sample consisted of 114 male participants. The participants’ average age was 31.7 (SD = 9.4). Of those participants who reported income, median gross family income was approximately US$31,149 (SD = 17,909) annually. Approximately 54.7% of the sample identified as African American, 14.0% as Hispanic, 26.2% as Caucasian, 0.8% as Asian, 0.8% as Native American, and 2.8% were classified as other. All participants were in a heterosexual, committed relationship for an average of 4.6 (SD = 4.3) years. The average number of children was 1.4 (SD = 1.5).

Thirty participants were classified as NV, and 84 participants were classified as IPV. Fifty-six participants were randomly assigned to the rumination condition and 58 participants to the distraction condition.

Overall Model

An overall 2 (condition) × 2 (violence status) × 3 (time: baseline, post–anger induction, and post–rumination/distraction) repeated-measures mixed multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was run to test Hypotheses 1 to 4. The between-subjects factors were condition (rumination or distraction) and violence status (IPV or NV) and the within-subjects factor was time. The dependent variables included self-reported anger, HR reactivity, skin conductance reactivity, and RSA reactivity. Analyses showed no main effect of condition on HR, F(2, 99) = 0.061, p = .805, RSA, F(2, 99) = 0.391, p = .533, skin conductance, F(2, 99) = 0.164, p = .687, or self-reported anger, F(2, 99) = 0.497, p = .482. Similarly, no significant interactions were found between condition and time for HR, F(2, 99) = 1.356, p = .262, RSA, F(2, 99) = 3.031, p = .053, skin conductance, F(2, 99) = 0.496, p = .610, and self-reported anger, F(2, 99) = 1.047, p = .355. Planned comparisons were then used to test each hypothesis individually.

Hypothesis 1: Change in Physiological Arousal and Self-Reported Anger Following Anger Induction

Figure 1 shows a significant main effect of time on HR, F(2, 99) = 26.796, p < .001. A planned comparison indicated that there was a significant increase in HR from baseline (M = 0.29, SD = 0.18) to post–anger induction (M = 0.41, SD = 0.16), t(103) = −8.06, p < .001. The effect of the experimental tasks on HR was large, partial eta squared = .351. A similar pattern was found for skin conductance, such that there was a main effect of time, F(2, 99) = 83.385, p < .001 (see Figure 2). Skin conductance reactivity significantly increased from baseline (M = 6.66, SD = 4.70) to post–anger induction (M = 9.98, SD = 6.46), t(103) = −13.60, p < .001, partial eta squared = .627. However, there were no significant effect of time on RSA, F(2, 99) = 0.373, p = .690, partial eta squared = .007 (see Figure 3). Figure 4 shows a significant main effect of time on self-reported anger, F(2, 108) = 123.997, p < .001. Specifically, there was a significant increase in anger from baseline (M = 11.47, SD = 3.51) to post–anger induction (M = 15.45, SD = 4.02), t(109) = −18.31, p < .001. The effect of the experimental tasks on state anger was large, partial eta squared = .703. Considering the State Anger scores averages 14.10 in normal populations (Spielberger, 1998), participants went from below average anger at baseline to above average anger following the anger induction. This also replicates and extends findings from Babcock et al. (2005) that the anger induction indeed works to induce anger. Overall, these results suggest that the anger induction increased HR, skin conductance, and self-reported anger in IPV and NV men.

Figure 1.

Mean range-corrected heart rate for IPV and NV men in the Rumination and Distraction conditions at three points: baseline, post-anger induction, and post-rumination/distraction.

Figure 2.

Mean skin conductance for IPV and NV men in the Rumination and Distraction conditions at three points: baseline, post-anger induction, and post-rumination/distraction.

Figure 3.

Mean RSA for IPV and NV men in the Rumination and Distraction conditions at three points: baseline, post-anger induction, and post-rumination/distraction.

Figure 4.

Mean state anger for IPV and NV men in the Rumination and Distraction conditions at three points: baseline, post-anger induction, and post-rumination/distraction.

Hypothesis 2: Change in Physiological Arousal and Self-Reported Anger Following Rumination

Analyses testing for changes in physiological arousal over time, following rumination, revealed a significant main effect of time on range-corrected HR, F(2, 47) = 16.85, p < .001. A planned comparison indicated a significant increase in HR from post–anger induction (M = 0.40, SD = 0.17) to postrumination (M = 0.50, SD = 0.25), t(48) = −3.25, p = .002 (see Figure 1). A significant main effect of time was found for skin conductance, F(2, 47) = 38.89, p < .001. Skin conductance reactivity increased from post–anger induction (M = 9.62, SD = 6.19) to postrumination (M = 9.98, SD = 6.33), but this change was not statistically significant, t(46) = −1.69, p = .10 (see Figure 2). No significant main effect of time was found for RSA reactivity, F(2, 45) = 2.47, p = .096 (see Figure 3).

Results showed a significant main effect of time on self-reported anger for participants in the rumination condition, F(2, 51) = 83.75, p < .001. Specifically, there was a significant increase in anger from post–anger induction (M = 15.72, SD = 4.29) to postrumination (M = 17.79, SD = 3.50), t(52) = −3.88, p < .001. These results suggest that rumination increased HR and self-reported anger in IPV and NV men, supporting Hypothesis 2. However, contrary to our predictions, no statistically significant change in skin conductance or RSA was observed following rumination.

Hypothesis 3: Change in Physiological Arousal and Self-Reported Anger Following Distraction

Analyses used to examine changes in physiological arousal following distraction revealed a significant main effect of time on HR, F(2, 53) = 17.04, p < .001 (see Figure 1). However, a planned comparison indicated no significant change in HR from post–anger induction (M = 0.42, SD = 0.15) to postdistraction (M = 0.46, SD = 0.20), t(54) = −1.67, p = .10. A significant main effect of time was found for RSA reactivity, F(2, 53) = 4.46, p = .016. However, a planned comparison indicated no significant change in RSA from post–anger induction (M = 0.10, SD = 0.09) to postdistraction (M = 0.09, SD = 0.07), t(54) = 1.19, p = .24 (see Figure 3). A significant main effect of time was also found for skin conductance, F(2, 53) = 51.78, p < .001. However, skin conductance reactivity did not differ statistically from post–anger induction (M = 10.29, SD = 6.74) to postdistraction (M = 10.65, SD = 6.75), t(52) = −1.29, p = .203 (see Figure 2). These results demonstrate that the distraction manipulation maintained physiological arousal in both IPV and NV men.

Results showed a significant main effect of time on self-reported anger for participants in the distraction condition, F(2, 55) = 82.76, p < .001. Specifically, there was a significant increase in anger from post–anger induction (M = 15.21, SD = 3.78) to postdistraction (M = 18.11, SD = 3.37), t(56) = −5.63, p < .001 (see Figure 4). As we had hypothesized that self-reported anger would decrease during distraction, this hypothesis was not supported.

Hypothesis 4: Comparing Physiological and Self-Reported Anger Between IPV and NV Men

We hypothesized that both IPV and NV men would experience an increase in physiological arousal and self-reported anger, but that IPV men would experience a greater elevation in physiological arousal and self-reported anger compared to NV men. Analyses revealed no main effect of violence status on HR reactivity, F(2, 99) = 0.098, p = .754, or RSA reactivity, F(2, 99) = 0.200, p = .655. Similarly, no interaction between violence status and time was found for HR reactivity, F(2, 99) = 0.463, p = .631, or RSA reactivity, F(2, 99) = 1.186, p = .310. A significant main effect of violence status, F(2, 99) = 4.768, p = .031, and an interaction between time and violence status, F(2, 99) = 3.334, p = .038, on skin conductance was found. Follow-up analyses examining the simple main effects revealed significant differences in skin conductance between IPV and NV men at all three times points: baseline, t(102) = 2.42, p = .017, after the anger induction, t(102) = 2.244, p = .027, and after rumination or distraction, t(102) = 2.243, p = .027. Although NV men have greater skin conductance reactivity at all three time points, the difference in skin conductance reactivity between IPV and NV men increased over time, with the greatest difference being observed after rumination or distraction.

Analyses showed no main effect of violence status, F(2, 99) = 0.189, p = .665, or interaction between violence status and time on self-reported anger, F(2, 99) = 0.598, p = .552. Hypothesis 4 was not supported, as violence status did not moderate changes in physiological arousal or self-reported anger over time as predicted.

Discussion

Understanding the emotional nature of IPV is the first step in gaining insight into the motivations and cognitive state of IPV perpetrators. No study to date has applied an experimental rumination versus distraction paradigm to perpetrators of IPV. We hypothesized that IPV perpetrators will show an increase in physiological arousal and self-reported anger following rumination, and this effect would be mediated by self-reported anger. Similarly, IPV perpetrators asked to distract following an anger induction were expected to show a decrease in physiological arousal and self-reported anger. In support of our main hypothesis, HR and self-reported anger did increase as a result of rumination, although state anger also increased in the distraction condition. Nonetheless, the activating effect angry rumination has on physiological arousal is clear. These results suggest a possible physiological mechanism by which angry rumination increases the risk of a violent act against one’s partner.

However, self-reported anger also increased in the distraction condition, contrary to our predictions. No statistically significant change in physiological arousal was observed in the distraction condition, such that physiological arousal was maintained across time. These results suggest that the effects of rumination and distraction on physiological arousal and self-reported anger may differ. These results highlight the importance of distinguishing between physiological and affective states in the study of anger and rumination in general. Physiological responding may be uncoupled from self-reported affect in some situations. The connection between physiological arousal and self-reported state anger remains unclear.

We also hypothesized that the IPV group would show a greater increase in physiological arousal and self-reported anger compared to the NV control group. Although we found an interaction between violence status and time on skin conductance, a main effect or interaction between violence status and time was not found for HR, RSA reactivity, or self-reported anger. Furthermore, the effect of violence status on skin conductance was contrary to our predictions, with NV men showing greater skin conductance reactivity at all three time points. As research on the physiological differences between IPV and NV men is limited, more research is needed to accurately interpret this finding. Research on depressive rumination suggests that the physiological effects of rumination may not be affected by one’s mood state prior to a mood induction (Vickers & Vogeltanz-Holm, 2003), and thus, it could be hypothesized that IPV and NV men will show the same pattern of physiological arousal in response to rumination.

Clinical Implications

The basis of cognitive therapy for depression emphasizes decreasing depressive rumination to minimize depressive symptoms. Similarly, a treatment for IPV perpetrators targeting those with high trait rumination could incorporate cognitive techniques to decrease all types of rumination and to promote distraction or other means of avoiding rumination. Rumination does appear to maintain physiological arousal associated with anger by activating the fight-or-flight system which may increase the risk for violence (Beauchaine et al., 2001; Gerin et al., 2006; Porges et al., 1994).

While distraction appears to circumvent the increase in physiological arousal associated with rumination, it may not reduce perpetrators’ perceptions of their anger, as state anger increased after distraction. The distraction condition is similar to the ubiquitous “time-out” strategy taught in battering intervention programs. During a time-out, clients are instructed to distract and not ruminate on a past argument (Rosenbaum & Leisring, 2002; Wexler, 2000). Although the “time-out” strategies are thought to decrease anger and IPV (Sonkin et al., 1985; Wexler, 2000), mental distraction alone was insufficient to reduce state anger. These findings are consistent with those of another laboratory experiment on partner violent men (Babcock et al., 2011). Taking a brief, relaxing break and listening to music after an observed argument had little impact on changing mood or aggressiveness in a subsequent argument. In fact, according to men’s self-report, they felt more aggressive after a time-out.

As the relation between cognitive processes, emotions, and physiological changes becomes clearer in IPV populations, interventions that target this cycle can be employed. While distraction was not effective in reducing anger, other psychological approaches (e.g., mindfulness) or physiological self-soothing techniques (e.g., diaphragmatic breathing) may prove to be useful strategies for IPV prevention. Rather than distracting from or avoiding anger, mindfulness steps are (a) attend to and acknowledge the anger; (b) accept the situation as it is and not ruminate on it; (c) identify the feelings and judgment; and (d) respond with forgiveness and compassion (Bishop et al., 2004; Farzan-Kashani, 2018; Kabat-Zinn, 1994). Mindful meditation appears to be more effective than distraction in improving mood (Broderick, 2005). Moreover, the addition of breathing exercises may further reduce the physiological experience of anger, as self-reported anger and physiological arousal may be uncoupled. Achieving Change Through Values-Based Behavior (ACTV; Lawrence et al., 2014) is a new group, battering intervention that addresses mindfulness and emotion regulation skills training. In preliminary studies, ACTV outperformed standard Duluth/ Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) groups in terms of IPV recidivism (Zarling et al., 2019). This could be due to ACTV’s ability to reduce experiential avoidance and emotion dysregulation (Zarling et al., 2019).

As men suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often react with anger, rather than anxiety, to trauma cues, (Pitman et al., 1987; Taft et al., 2007), the physiological and angry responding may differ among IPV perpetrators with trauma histories. Trauma-informed IPV treatments may be another clinical approach to counter rumination, particular for perpetrators with PTSD. For example, Strength At Home (Taft, Creech, et al., 2016), a men’s group for military veterans, emphasizes the importance of recognizing biased and distorted thought patterns and correcting them. Specific coping strategies are taught to correct negative thought patterns contributing to stress, anger, conflict, and IPVs (Taft, Murphy, & Creech, 2016). New battering intervention and prevention programs, such as these, incorporate laboratory-based research findings on social information processing deficits associated with IPV perpetration into their treatment models.

Limitations

There are several limitations to this study. The community sample in this study was ethnically diverse, with the majority being low-income, African American men. Findings may not generalize to court-mandated populations, female perpetrators, high socioeconomic status (SES), or rural settings. The sample size was relatively small, with only 30 participants in the NV group. The main effect due to group may have been non-significant due to inadequate power to detect a three-way interaction. In addition, to explore the effects of rumination and distraction, a laboratory paradigm was used. While the use of this established paradigm increases this study’s internal validity, the artificiality of the experimental manipulation may limit the generalizability of the findings to real-world situations. Some other experiments on rumination and distraction require participants to write down their thoughts rather than read statements on a computer monitor (Denson et al., 2011). While the writing methodology may have a more powerful impact on increasing or decreasing anger, it also adds a confound to psychophysiological assessment by introducing bodily movement.

The distraction condition did not lead to a reduction in self-reported anger, as expected. This could be because the effect of distraction is moderated by other variables not tested in this study, such as trait anger or hostility. Alternatively, men may have felt frustrated, bored, or angered by the experimental task itself, which was simply reading phrases on a computer screen. Finally, this study explored the effects of rumination and distraction on physiological arousal and self-reported anger but did not attempt to measure if rumination and distraction actually impacts subsequent aggression or violence. Based on previous findings (Anestis et al., 2009; Denson et al., 2011; Sotelo & Babcock, 2013), we extrapolate that increased physiological arousal and self-reported anger would lead to greater acts of aggression. Whether this translates to increased frequency of IPV perpetration remains unknown and is difficult to ethically test in experimental paradigms.

Future Directions

Future studies could test rumination and distraction following a naturalistic conflict discussion (Babcock et al., 2011) rather than a standardized anger induction. Moderators of angry responses to these tasks, such as head injury or trauma history, could be examined. Alternatives to rumination, including mindfulness and cognitive restructuring of ruminative thoughts, could be tested after observed argument with their partner or after audiotaped vignettes. Researchers could also experimentally test aggression toward one’s partner following rumination versus distraction using the Taylor’s (1967) Aggression Paradigm or another simulated measure of aggression. There is little research exploring the sequence of events leading up to an act of IPV, especially in regards to IPV perpetrators’ cognitive, affective, and physiological changes. This study explored the dampening and amplifying effect of cognitive processes on physiological arousal and self-reported anger among partner violent men. Future studies may test alternatives to distraction that better decrease anger, psychophysiological arousal, aggression, and, ultimately, violence to develop more effective battering intervention and prevention programs.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was funded by grant R03 MH066943-01A1 from the National Institutes of Health and by the University of Houston.

ORCID iD

Julia C. Babcock

Note

Author Biographies

Julia C. Babcock, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Houston and a licensed clinical psychologist. Her research focuses on laboratory studies of violent and nonviolent couples and community-based evaluations of battering interventions. She is interested in identifying mechanisms of change that translate research into practice, and developing and evaluating new techniques that stop intimate partner violence.

Andrea L. Potthoff, PhD, is a graduate of the University of Houston and a licensed clinical psychologist. Her research focuses on mediators and moderators of variables that predict intimate partner violence. She is currently practicing as a clinical psychologist in Edina, MN.

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