The Relationship Between Early Maladaptive Schemas and Intimate Partner Violence Against Women: The Moderating Effect of Childhood Trauma

The study objectives were to test the hypothesis that childhood trauma moderates the associations between early maladaptive schemas (EMS) and intimate partner violence (IPV) among women in the specific Lebanese patriarchal context. This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted on Lebanese women between September and December 2018; 1,655 participants enrolled in this study were from all of Lebanon’s governorates and were selected using an equitable representative sample. The “Disconnection and Rejection” EMS domain showed the strongest correlations with both physical and nonphysical IPV (r = .46 and r = .51, respectively) in our sample. Moderation analyses findings showed that at low, moderate, and high levels of childhood trauma, greater endorsement of the “Disconnection and Rejection” schema domain was strongly linked to more severe physical and nonphysical IPV. Furthermore, childhood trauma (only at high levels) emerged as a significant moderator in the link between the “Impaired autonomy and performance” domain and physical/nonphysical IPV. High levels of childhood trauma significantly moderated the association between “Other directedness” and nonphysical IPV. Finally, low levels of childhood trauma moderated the link between “Over-vigilance and Inhibition” and physical IPV. Given that EMS are known to be resistant to change, identifying childhood trauma as a moderator in the link between certain specific EMS and IPV can provide novel avenues for the prevention IPV and its long-lasting detrimental consequences. Childhood trauma can be regarded as a target for prevention and intervention, as it can assist in mitigating correlations between EMS and IPV occurrence.