The Relationship between the Amount of Face-to-Face Contact and Partners’ Reports of Domestic Violence Frequency

This investigation examines the relationship between partners’amount of face-to-face contact and partners’frequency of domestic violence. Men entering a domestic violence treatment program (N = 134) and their intimate partners were asked to complete the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) at the beginning of treatment and 12 months after treatment completion concerning partner violence during the previous year. Partners were also asked to identify days during the year before and the year after treatment during which they did not have face-to-face contact. Results indicated that at both baseline and 12-month posttreatment follow-up, the number of days of face-to-face contact was significantly related to verbal aggression and physical violence. However, after controlling for physical violence, the relationship between the number of days of face-to-face contact and verbal aggression was not significant; the relationship between the number of days of face-to-face contact and physical violence remained significant, even after controlling for verbal aggression.