Intimate partner violence (IPV) is understood to be a reactive response to attachment threat as directed by one's standing on two dimensions of attachment (i.e., anxious or avoidant). IPV is also influenced by multiple factors related to the individual and their partner's behavior, although few studies have attempted to examine these factors together. A better understanding of the relationship between attachment and IPV may be important during emerging adulthood (18-25 years old) when rates of IPV tend to be high. I proposed that a multidimensional model of attachment that includes various attachment-related processes (i.e., dyadic influences, daily context, and individual/relational functioning) may help to clarify how adult attachment influences IPV during this developmental period. This model was examined in two studies: In Study 1, a 28-day diary study of violent couples (n = 208), I examined daily context (i.e., stress, jealousy, and commitment) as mediating and moderating influences and found generally that stress and jealousy operate to increase the influence of attachment on IPV while commitment operates to decrease the influence of attachment on IPV. In Study 2 (n = 280), I examined individual and internal processes (i.e., emotion regulation and dimensions of interpersonal functioning) as mediating influences in a different set of couples and found mixed support for these as explanatory factors. Altogether, the findings suggest that attachment anxiety and avoidance influence IPV through a variety of paths that have implications for clinical intervention for emerging adulthood couples experiencing IPV.
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